THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 


GIFT 


CAR.   !.    TABORI  S. 


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7 


Tales  from  the  Totems  of  the 


COLLECTED  BY 

JAMKS   DEANS 


Edited  by  Oscar  Lovell  Triggi 


VOLUME    II 


Archives  of  the  International  Folk-Lore 
Association 


CHICAGO,  1899 


Copyright,  1899,  by  the 
INTERNATIONAL  FOLK-LOBE  ASSOCIATION. 


College 
JUhrary 


E 

) 

H1D3 


Of  this  edition  there  were  printed 
600  copies  and  the  types  were  then 
distributed.  Each  book  is  numbered 
and  this  volume  is 


1053943 


KDITORIA.L  NOTK. 

James  Deans,  the  collector  of  these  tales  from  the  Hidery, 
is  widely  known  as  a  geologist,  ethnologist  and  anthropologist. 
He  is  a  Scotchman  by  nativity,  but  he  has  lived  for  many  years 
on  the  northwest  coast  of  America.,  having  been  sent  by  the 
Hudson  Bay  Company,  forty-five  years  ago,  to  Fort  Victoria 
on  the  south  end  of  Vancouver  Island,  which  was  the  most  re- 
mote of  the  trading  posts  of  that  company.  Mr.  Deans  has 
made  an  intimate  study  of  the  natives  of  the  northwest  region, 
and  he  is  probably  the  only  man  in  the  world  who  is  able  to 
translate  their  tales  and  interpret  their  totem  marks  and  crests. 

In  1892  Mr.  Deans  prepared  an  anthropologic  exhibit  for 
the  World's  Fair,  which  consisted  of  one  of  the  ancient  native 
houses  and  its  totem  post,  found  at  Skidegat,  Queen  Charlotte 
Island,  and  a  reproduction  of  an  entire  village  of  the  Haida  in 
model  form,  with  specimens  of  the  utensils,  implements,  dress, 
etc. ,  of  the  people.  This  exhibit  may  now  be  seen  at  the  Field 
Columbian  Museum  in  Chicago.  As  a  guide  to  this  collection, 
the  present  volume  will  be  found  of  great  value.  In  the  appen- 
dix is  reprinted  from  the  American  Antiquarian,  a  paper  of  Mr. 
Deans',  describing  the  totem  posts  at  the  Fair. 

This  publication  makes  the  first  authentic  collection  of 
Hidery  tales  in  volume  form.  Mr.  Deans  has  published  other 
accounts  of  the  people  and  versions  of  their  stories  in  the  Amer- 
ican Antiquarian,  whose  files  may  be  consulted  by  those  inter- 
ested. But  the  present  volume  contains  practically  all  that  has 
been  published  elsewhere.  The  references  to  the  Antiquarian 
are  hereby  appended  :  How  the  Whullemooch  Got  Fire.  Vol. 
VIII.,  p.  41  ;  How  the  Mountain  Sheep  Originated.  Vol.  VIII., 
p.  115  ;  Yicsack,  or  the  Hat.  Vol.  VIII.,  p.  170  ;  Haidah  Land. 
Vol.  IX.,  p.  238;  Inside  View  of  a  Haidah  Dwelling.  Vol. 
IX.,  p.  309;  The  Worship  of  Priapus  among  the  Indians 
of  British  Columbia.  Vol.  IX.,  p.  368  ;  A  Strange  Way  of  Pre- 
serving peace  amongst  Neighbors.  Vol.  X.,  p.  42  ;  The  Raven 
in  the  Mythology  of  Northwest  America.  Vol.  X.,(I)  p.  109; 


(II)p.  273;  The  Feast  of  Ne-Kilst-Lass,  the  Raven  God.  Vol 
X. ,  p.  383  ;  The  Raven  Myth  of  the  Northwest  Coast,  Resem- 
blance to  Certain  Bible  Stories  and  Greek  Constellations.  (Ill) 
Vol.  XI.,  p.  297  ;  The  Haida-kwul-ra,  or  Native  Tobacco  of  the 
Queen  Charlotte  Haidas.  Vol.  XII.,  p.  48  ;  A  Weird  Mourn- 
ful Song  of  the  Haidas.  Vol.  XIII.,  p.  52  ;  The  Story  of  Skaggy 
Bealus.  Vol.  XIII.,  p.  81 ;  Burial  Mounds  of  Vancouver  Island 
and  their  Relics.  Vol.  XIII.,  p.  171  ;  Moon  Symbol  on  the 
Northwest  Coast.  Vol.  XIII.,  p.  341  ;  Carved  Columns  or 
Totem  Posts  of  the  Haidas.  Vol.  XIII.,  p.  282  ;  The  Antiqui- 
ties of  British  Columbia.  Vol.  XIV.,  p.  41  ;  Totem  Posts  of  the 
World's  Fair.  Vol.  XV.,  p.  281  ;  A  Little  Known  Civilization. 
Vol.  XVI.,  p.  208 ;  The  Hidery  Story  of  Creation.  Vol.  XVII., 
p.  6 1 ;  What  Patlatches  Are.  Vol.  XVIII.,  p.  274;  When  Pat- 
latches  are  Observed.  Vol.  XVIII.,  p.  329.  Another  paper  on 
"Legendary  Lore  of  the  Coast  Tribes  of  Northwestern  America" 
was  published  in  Vol.  I.  of  the  Archives  of  the  International 
Folk-Lore  Association,  p.  266. 

A  few  illustrations  are  added  to  the  text.  The  photograph 
of  the  group  of  Indians,  in  which  Mr.  Deans  also  appears,  was 
taken  before  the  Hidery  house  at  the  World's  Fair.  The  pict- 
ures of  the  ancient  and  modern  villages  are  recent  photographs, 
belonging  to  the  collection  of  the  Field  Columbian  Museum- 
The  figures  of  the  medicine  men  are  native  carvings.  In  one, 
the  doctor  is  in  the  act  of  curing  a  sick  person ;  a  bucket  of 
water  stands  before  the  patient,  in  which  the  doctor  dips  his 
hands  after  making  passes  over  the  sick  man.  This  Skaggy  is 
in  full  dress.  The  drawing  of  the  thunder-bird  illustrates  one  of 
the  clan  crests.  The  pipe  shows  a  representation  of  Wasco.  He 
is  bringing  whales  from  the  sea;  one  in  his  mouth,  one  across  his 
back,  and  one  held  by  his  tail. 

The  Association  is  under  great  obligations  to  Mr.  Deans, 
and  as  ever  to  Mrs.  Bassett,  its  honored  Secretary. 

O.  L.  TRIGGS. 

For  the  Association. 
The  University  of  Chicago. 


CONTENTS. 

Page 

Introductory i 

Hidery  L,and 8 

The  Hidery  People 10 

Hidery  Houses 12 

Patlatches 17 

Religious  Belief  of  the  Hidery 22 

The  Hidery  To-day 23 

Tales  from  the  Raven  Crest 24 

Another  Version 25 

Another  Version 26 

Another  Hidery  Version 27 

Origin  of  Fish,  Hidery  Version 28 

How  Cauch,  the  Raven  God,  Got  Oulachans 29 

The  Origin  of  Mankind 30 

How  They  First  Got  Fire 31 

Yethel  the  Raven  God  and  His  Salmon  Wife 31 

The  Story  of  Yethel  and  a  Flood 32 

How  the  Raven  God  Helped  the  Women 32 

The  Feast  of  the  Raven  God,  Ne-kilst-lass 33 

The  Story  of  the  Eagle 34 

The  Sun  Totem  and  its  Story 37 

The  Daughter  of  the  Sun 37 

The  Moon  Crest  and  its  Story 43 

Tales  from  the  Bear  Totem 46 

How  the  Bear  Stole  His  Wife  from  the  Hidery 48 

Story  of  the  Bear  and  Eagle's  Claw 54 

The  Story  of  the  Bear  and  Frog 55 

The  Story  of  the  Mountain  Goats 56 

Wasco  and  the  Story 5$ 

The  Scaunah  Totem  and  Its  Stories 62 

Keel-coonuc,  or  Whale's  Slave 65 

The  Scannah  Totem  and  Stories 66 

The  Adventures  of  Nuch-noo-simgat,  Etc 71 

How  the  Whull-e-mooch  Got  Fire— A  Legend  of  the  Cow- 
tichiaus  .          7^ 


The  Bear  and  Princess — A  Hidery  Tale 77 

Meelas'  Tomb 80 

The  Story  of  Meelas 81 

The  Story  of  Bealus 82 

The  Doom  of  the  Katt-a-quins — A  Legend  of  Alaska 84 

Appendix 89 


ILLUSTRATIONS. 

Native  Indians  of  Vancouver  Island Frontispiece 

The  Site  of  an  Ancient  Village 13 

A  Village  with  Modern  Houses 23 

The  Thunder-bird 58 

A  Pipe  with  Wasco  and  Whales 58 

A  Skaggy  or  Medicine  Man 82 

A  Dish  with  Carvings  of  Two  Doctors 82 

Houses  and  Totem  Posts 89 


Tales  from  the  Totems  of  the  Hidery, 

And  from  other  Indian  Nations  on  the  Coast  of  North  Western 

America. 


INTRODUCTORY. 

My  object  in  placing  these  Folk  Tales  before  the  intelligent 
public,  is  by  doing  so  there  may  be  chances  of  preserving  them 
to  posterity,  because  they  are  rapidly  being  forgotten,  lost  be- 
yond a  chance  of  recovery,  owing  to  the  passing  away  of  the  old 
folks,  whose  memories  were  so  well  stored  with  these  old  tales 
that  they  could  spend  hour  after  hour  and  night  after  night  re- 
peating them  to  admiring  listeners  seated  by  the  evening  lodge 
fires.  In  that  manner  they  have  been  handed  down  through  un- 
known ages  from  sire  to  son.  Another  means  of  their  preserva- 
tion was  the  crest  columns,  or  Totem  Poles.  As  soon  as  a 
person  had  the  means,  he  had  to  build  himself  a  house, 
with  his  totem  pole  in  front  of  it,  with  all  his  crests  and 
all  the  stories  connected  with  them  carved  on  it.  For  ages 
the  people  were  so  poor  that  excepting  their  own  individual 
crests,  none  but  their  chiefs,  who  alone  had  the  means,  were 
able  to  have  more,  and  these  only  on  certain  conditions,  as 
the  following  will  show.  About  1832,  a  number  of  whaling 
ships  used  to  winter,  while  on  the  North  Pacific,  at  Skidegat. 
These  whalers  came  chiefly  from  Boston  or  Maine.  On  one  of 
these  ships  was  a  certain  Captain  Jefferson,>  who  for  some  reason 
made  up  his  mind  to  leave  the  sea  and  stay  on  shore  amongst 
the  Hidery.  He  seems  to  have  had  considerable  means.  On 
shore  he  made  his  home  with  a  family,  where  he  lived  a  number 
of  years,  and  died  in  the  latter  thirties  at  the  Indian's  house,  leav- 
ing all  his  money  and  effects  to  his  host.  According  to  the  social 


2  TALES   FROM   THE   HIDERY. 

laws  of  the  Hidery,  when  anyone  died,  leaving  his  or  her  prop- 
erty to  another,  the  one  who  inherited  it  had  also  to  take  the 
name  of  the  donor.  So  this  family  took  the  name  of  Jefferson, 
by  which  they  have  been  known  ever  since.  Having  thus 
acquired  so  much  additional  property,  they  became  the  wealthiest 
family  in  the  village,  excepting  the  chief.  This  induced  him  to 
build  a  new  house  with  totem  pole,  showing  higher  social  stand- 
ing in  the  tribe.  In  order  to  find  something  to  carve  on  his  pole, 
he  adopted  a  part  of  the  coat  of  arms  of  the  chief,  which  he 
thought  he  had  a  right  to,  his  wife  being  the  chiefs  sister. 
As  soon  as  the  chief  knew  Jefferson's  intentions,  he  told  him 
that  on  no  account  would  he  allow  his  crest  to  be  quartered. 
Jefferson  knew  it  would  not  do  to  oppose  the  chief,  so  he  said  : 
''Skidegat  (the  chief)  won't  allow  me  to  take  part  of  his  crest, 
so  I  will  have  one  of  my  own  made  and  show  him  who  is  richest 
and  at  the  same  time  leave  no  bare  space  like  the  poorer  people." 
So  when  his  pole  was  set  up,  it  had  three  rows  of  the  tau  or  cop- 
per cross  money,  one  in  front  and  one  on  each  side,  in  addition  to 
his  family  crests.  When  the  chief  died,  Jefferson  took  down  his 
imitation  copper  money  pole,  and  in  its  place  put  up  another 
with  the  late  chief's  coat  of  arms  quartered,  including  the  story 
connected  with  it. 

As  I  said  before  none  but  chiefs  were  able  to  put  up  elab- 
orately carved  columns,  with  ancient  stories  on  them,  up  to  the 
years  1830  or  later.  From  that  date  on  to  1880  the  Hidery  began 
to  go  abroad  as  sailors  and  otherwise  mix  with  the  white  set- 
tlers, where  by  labor  and  other  means  they  acquired  money  and 
goods.  These  were  sent  home  to  their  relations,  in  order  to  help 
them  to  have  fine  houses  and  totem  poles.  For  that  purpose 
every  means  was  used.  Soon  the  common  people  became  richer 
than  the  chiefs  and  had  better  houses  and  more  elaborate  totem 
poles.  Soon  an  active  competition  commenced,  each  one  trying 
to  have  the  best.  Wives,  sisters  and  mothers  would  prostitute 
themselves,  in  order  to  obtain  the  wherewith  to  get  ahead  of 
the  others.  Some  died  in  the  mad  race  for  wealth  and  today  the 
unfinished  houses  stand  a  beautiful  ruin,  sad  mementos  of  the  past. 

While  some  were  busy  with  this  building  and  carving,  others 
were  busy  collecting  all  the  old  stories  to  be  found,  bearing  on 


INTRODUCTORY.  3 

their  respective  crests,  from  the  old  folks  and  from  the  ancient 
mythology  of  the  Hidery.  By  these  means  many  an  old  legend 
and  myth,  all  but  forgotten,  was  revived ;  even  distant  tribes 
were  applied  to  and  many  an  ancient  tale,  still  lingering  in  the 
memories  of  the  old  folks,  was  brought  to  light.  These  tales, 
as  soon  as  found,  were  carved  on  the  totem  poles  of  the  parties, 
who  by  the  social  laws  of  the  Hidery  were  entitled  to  them. 
By  these  means  many  an  old  story  was  preserved.  After  a  few 
years  of  such  competition,  a  change  in  these  people's  mode  of 
living  took  place.  All  of  the  old  style  houses  were  pulled  down 
and  new  ones  built,  with  which  no  totem  poles  were  used ;  even 
their  old  system  of  crests  was  broken  through,  and  even  these 
old  stories  were  seldom  told.  Just  then  I  stept  in  and  collected 
all  I  could  find,  adding  greatly  to  the  number  I  had  previous^ 
collected.  After  the  lapse  of  thirty  years  some  of  the  old  stories 
were  so  changed  that  I  hardly  knew  them  again.  While  collecting 
old  Folk  Tales  the  Hidery  on  the  island  would  borrow  from  the 
tribes  on  the  main  land  and  from  the  tribes  beyond  the  Rocky 
Mountains.  Numbers  of  these  borrowed  tales  were  given  a  local 
coloring.  Another  subject,  worthy  of  notice,  is  that  a  large 
amount  of  the  tales  has  been  taken  from  the  mythology  of  these 
people.  Others,  again,  are  of  great  historical  value,  such  as 
the  story  of  Calcah  Jude  (Woman  of  the  Ice)  and  her  leadership 
of  the  Hidery,  when  flying  before  the  encroachment  of  the 
ice.  Also  the  story  of  Scannah-gun-nuncus,  who  fled  before  the 
ice  coming  down  the  Hunnah,  a  river  on  Queen  Charlotte  Islands. 
Both  of  these  are  of  great  interest  to  geologists,  even  although 
they  are  traditions  of  a  long  past  age.  Again  the  story  of 
Skaggy  Bealus  is  of  great  value,  showing  an  apparent  connection 
between  the  Hidery  and  the  rest  of  the  world  at  a  remote  period. 
And  yet  another,  the  story  of  the  people,  who  after  the  flood, 
were  told  by  the  raven  god  Ne-kilst-lass  to  throw  stones  back- 
ward over  their  heads,  which  stones  on  reaching  the  ground 
jumped  up  men  and  women,  seems  to  be  but  a  version  of  the 
Greek  myth  of  Deucalion.  These  old  stories  were  not  borrowed 
from  the  white  settlers,  for  the  natives  knew  them  ages  before  the 
advent  of  the  Yetts  Hadray  (Iron  people),  the  name  given  by  the 
Hidery  to  the  white  folks,  who  first  gave  them  iron.  While  ren- 


4  TALES   FROM   THE  HIDERY. 

dering  these  stories  into  English,  I  have  kept  as  near  the  orig- 
inal as  possible.  For  many  years  I  found  great  difficulty  in  get- 
ting what  I  considered  a  correct  version  of  a  story,  or  a  correct 
reading  from  the  totem  poles.  This  at  first  was  very  annoying, 
and  often  I  felt  like  giving  up  my  researches  ;  doubtless  I  would 
have  done  so,  had  it  not  been  that  with  every  succeeding  trip  to 
these  islands  I  was  able  to  add  a  little  more  to  the  stock  of  my 
information,  as  well  as  to  clear  up  many  dark  points  in  what  I 
had  secured  on  former  visits.  Thus  gradually  was  I  adding  to 
my  knowledge  of  the  social  life  of  the  people,  as  well  as  an 
understanding  of  the  carvings  on  their  totem  poles.  Although 
I  had  acquired  much,  I  had  still  much  to  learn.  In  order  to  get 
at  many  things  of  great  importance,  I  saw  plainly  that  I  ought 
to  spend  a  few  months  amongst  them.  During  the  summer  of 
1883  I  was  able  to  spend  a  few  months  somewhat  satisfactorily. 
Starting  from  Skidegat  in  a  canoe,  I  visited  all  the  tribes  and  the 
most  of  the  villages  along  the  east,  north  and  west  coasts  of  these 
islands.  At  these  villages,  I  learned  much  from  the  people  and 
from  their  totem  poles.  While  visiting  at  the  different  villages, 
I  found  at  every  one  a  little  variation  in  their  stories,  myths  and 
totem  poles. 

Again  in  the  summer  of  1889  I  had  the  opportunity  of  pay- 
ing a  visit  of  a  few  months  to  the  northwest  coast,  where  I  also 
learned  much.  All  my  visits  to  these  islands  were  connected 
either  with  geology  or  coal  mines.  Of  course,  I  could  only  give 
my  spare  time  to  my  favorite  studies.  Often  I  wished  I  could  be 
able  to  give  them  my  undivided  attention  ;  fortunately,  I  was 
able  to  do  so  much  sooner  than  I  expected.  Early  in  March, 
1892,  I  was  sent  amongst  the  Hidery,  by  the  Department  of  An- 
thropology of  the  World's  Columbian  Exposition,  Chicago,  with 
instructions  to  get  a  model  of  a  village  and  of  their  tombs,  and 
articles  of  everyday  life  and  use,  and  also  to  study  their  several 
crests,  dances  and  their  Folk  Tales.  This  I  gladly  did,  and  before 
November  I  had  brought  together  an  entire  village  in  miniature, 
with  a  large  house  just  as  the  people  lived  in  it,  with  also  a 
large  quantity  of  their  household  goods.  All  of  these  I  shipped 
to  Chicago  without  delay.  About  the  middle  of  March,  1893, 
George  Hunt,  of  Fort  Rupert,  Vancouver  Island,  who  had  got 


INTRODUCTORY.  5 

together  a  party  of  Quackutt  Indians  for  the  Department  of  An- 
thropology, and  myself  left  for  Chicago.  During  the  great  Fair 
we  built  two  large  houses  alongside  of  the  South  Pond,  one 
Hidery  and  one  Quackutt ;  the  former  was  divided  into  small 
bed-rooms  for  our  accommodation,  and  in  it  we  received  visitors. 

When  the  Anthropological  Building  was  finished,  I  put  all 
my  miniature  houses  in  place  as  their  originals  stood  in  the  land 
of  the  Hidery.  These  strange  little  houses  drew  large  crowds 
of  visitors  each  day.  While  putting  them  in  place  I  was  fre- 
quently asked  by  the  visitors  to  tell  what  they  were.  This  I 
gladly  did,  giving  readings  from  the  totem  poles,  and  telling  the 
quaint  old  stories  connected  with  them,  Day  after  day,  from 
morning  to  night,  I  had  crowds  of  admiring  listeners,  many  of 
whom  wished  to  get  a  book,  or  if  there  were  none  to  be  bought, 
asked  me  if  I  could  write  one  telling  all  about  them.  This  I 
promised  to  do,  when  I  got  home,  if  I  could  find  time  and 
the  money  to  do  so.  For  that  purpose,  a  number  of  ladies  and 
gentlemen  gave  me  their  names ;  each  would  take  one  or  more 
copies. 

In  order  that  the  tales  would  be  better  understood,  I  found 
it  necessary  to  give  a  description  of  the  people  from  whom  I 
gathered  these  tales,  their  history,  habits  and  social  usages. 

I  shall  first  tell  of  the  two  phratries,  the  Raven  and 
Eagle,  and  afterward  give  a  description  of  each  crest  and  the  sto- 
ries connected  with  them. 

I  have,  as  far  as  I  know,  given  a  correct  account  of  every- 
thing mentioned,  and  if  I  have  made  any  mistakes  I  shall  be 
much  pleased  to  be  corrected.  As  a  writer,  I  cannot  and  dare 
not  make  any  pretensions,  because  I  had  but  little  schooling. 
The  extent  of  it  was  a  little  of  the  three  r's,  reading,  'riting 
(writing)  and  'rithmetic  (Arithmetic.) 

With  thankful  remembrance  of  the  kind  friends  I  met  at  the 
World's  Fair,  to  the  International  Folk  Lore  Association  of  Chi- 
cago in  general,  and  to  its  worthy  secretary,  Mrs.  Helen 
Wheeler  Bassett,  I  submit  these  stories  for  consideration. 

The  Author, 

JAMES  DEANS, 

Victoria,  B.  C. 


Tales  from  the  Totems  of  the  Hidery 

And  other  Indian  Nations  on  the 
Coast  of  North  Western  America. 


Early  in  the  summer  of  1852,  in  my  native  Scotland,  along 
with  several  others,  I  joined  the  Puget  Sound  Agricultural 
Company,  a  branch  of  the  Hudson  Bay  Company,  as  a  farm 
laborer.  Toward  the  end  of  August,  that  year,  we  left  London, 
England,  on  the  Company's  barge  Norman  Morrison,  with  Captain 
Wishart,  bound  for  Vancouver  Island  on  the  coast  of  North- 
west America,  where  this  Company  held  large  tracts  of  farming 
land.  After  being  six  months  under  the  care  of  the  good  captain, 
we  arrived  safely  at  Royal  Roads,  outside  of  Victoria  harbor,  on 
Sunday,  i6th  of  January,  1853.  On  Tuesday,  i8th,  we  all  went 
ashore,  at  what  was  then  known  as  Fort  Victoria,  a  trading  post 
of  the  Hudson  Bay  Company,  now  Victoria,  the  capital  of  the 
province  of  British  Columbia.  After  being  on  the  island  a  few 
months  I  learned  enough  of  the  Chinook  to  enable  me  to 
converse  as  well  as  to  trade  with  the  Indians. 

During  those  early  days  almost  every  Indian  nation  in  North- 
western America,  now  British  Columbia,  and  Sitka,  now  Alaska, 
was  represented  at  the  fort.  These  people  came  south  for  the 
purpose  of  earning  goods,  such  as  blankets,  printed  and  white 
calico,  etc. ,  which  were  sent  to  their  northern  homes  and  which 
they  sold  in  order  to  build  large  houses  and  raise  elaborate 
totem  posts. 

As  soon  as  I  was  able  to  converse  with  these  people  I  was 
surprised  to  find  that  each  nation  had  a  wonderful  mythology,  as 
well  as  a  large  amount  of  Folk  Lore.  Having  made  this  discovery, 
my  next  step  was  to  collect  all  I  could  find  and  write  it  down,  in 
order  to  preserve  it  from  oblivion,  irrespective  of  either  tribe  or 

6 


VISITS  THE  HIDERY.  7 

nation.  During  these  early  days  I  often  heard  from  the  Company's 
people  who  had  been  trading  in  these  northern  parts,  about  the 
wonderful  and  mysterious  picture  writings  on  the  houses  of  the 
native  people,  as  well  as  strange  carvings  on  tall  columns,  placed 
in  front  of  every  house.  They  used  to  tell  how  the  houses  ap- 
peared as  if  they  had  been  built  in  a  perfect  forest  of  tall 
columns.  Not  only  were  there  paintings  on  the  houses  and  carv- 
ings on  their  tall  columns,  but  also  on  the  roofs  of  their  houses 
there  were  images  of  bears,  ravens  and  eagles.  Often  we  used  to 
discuss  the  probable  signification  of  these  things,  more  especially 
those  which  resembled  buffalos  and  crocodiles.  These  discus- 
sions were  very  fruitful  of  theories  as  to  the  motives  for  their 
erection  and  their  use.  It  was  an  easy  matter  to  discuss  as  well 
as  to  theorize,  but  it  was  a  harder  matter  to  give  a  satisfactory 
explanation  of  what  they  were. 

In  later  years,  after  I  had  left  the  Company,  I  paid  a  visit  to 
Fort  Simpson,  one  of  the  northern  trading  posts.  During  a 
stroll  through  the  Indian  village,  outside  of  the  fort,  I  was 
astonished  at  the  amount  of  carvings  and  paintings  on  the  houses 
and  tall  columns,  to  be  seen  everywhere.  This  visit  was  made  in 
the  summer  of  1862,  extending  up  into  Alaska,  where  I  also  had 
a  chance  to  look  over  the  carved  columns.  Early  in  the  spring  of 
1869  I  visited  the  home  of  Hidery  proper,  Queen  Charlotte 
Islands.  While  there  I  discovered  that  every  village  on  these 
islands  was  full  of  paintings  and  carvings  and  that  there 
were  various  sorts  of  columns,  also  dead  houses,  with  strange 
looking  animal  carvings  on  them.  Seeing  so  many  of  these 
things  everywhere,  awoke  in  my  mind  a  determination  to  study 
them  when  I  had  an  opportunity.  After  this  visit  ten  years 
passed  away  before  I  was  able  to  revisit  the  islands.  During 
these  years,  I  collected  from  Indian  visitors  enough  to  add  con- 
siderably to  my  collection  of  tales.  I  was  also  able  to  glean  a 
few  ideas  concerning  the  carvings  from  two  gentlemen  who  had 
made  them  a  study.  One  was  a  young  man  named  Samuel  Poole, 
who  had  lived  on  these  islands  a  number  of  years;  the  other  one, 
Judge  Swan  of  Port  Townsend.  After  a  while  I  was  able  to 
spend  for  several  years  a  few  weeks  every  fall  amongst  these 
people.  During  these  visits  I  was  able  to  learn  a  deal,  which 


8  TALES  FROM  THE  HIDERY. 

helped  greatly  to  clear  up  the  mystery  by  enabling  me  to  read 
the  inscriptions  on  the  columns  as  well  as  to  understand  the  paint- 
ings on  the  houses  and  other  things. 

Although  I  had  learned  much,  still  it  was  little  in  so  wide  a 
field.  Often  I  wished  I  could  spend  a  summer  in  one  of  their 
villages  in  order  to  study  the  subject  thoroughly.  Luckily,  I  was 
able  to  spend  one  sooner  than  I  expected.  In  the  fall  of  1891  I 
received  orders  from  the  Department  of  Anthropology  of  the 
World's  Fair,  to  be  held  in  1893,  at  Chicago,  to  go  north  as 
soon  as  spring  opened,  in  order  to  secure  one  of  the  large 
Hidery  houses  just  as  the  people  lived  in  it,  also  a  minia- 
ture Hidery  village,  with  its  totem  poles,  mortuary  columns, 
and  tombs,  also  to  study  their  carvings  and  to  collect  the  Folk 
Lore,  as  well  as  to  study  the  social  usages  of  the  Hidery  people, 
their  crests,  clans  and  their  several  dances.  I  received  a  sum 
of  money  to  enable  me  to  buy  whatever  exhibits  I  found  of  any 
value.  Early  in  the  following  spring  I  was  under  way  for  Hidery 
Land.  Before  I  got  through  in  October  I  had  collected  and  ship- 
ped to  Chicago  the  Hidery  exhibits,  shown  at  the  late  great  Fair, 
and  now  in  the  Field  Columbian  Museum  in  Jackson  Park. 
Besides  getting  the  materials  mentioned  above  I  had  learned  to 
read  the  carvings  and  paintings  fairly  well. 

In  order  that  the  readers  of  these  tales  may  understand 
something  of  the  people,  I  shall  give  a  brief  discription  of  them, 
their  country  and  social  usages,  beginning  with  the  land  they 
live  in. 

HIDERY    LAND. 

The  original  home  of  the  Hidery  was  on  that  group  of 
islands,  lying  off  the  north-west  coast  of  North  America,  named 
1787  by  Captain  Dirion  after  one  of  his  ships,  the  Queen  Char- 
lotte. These  islands  lie  between  52°  and  55°  N.  L.  and  between  131° 
and  135°  West  Longitude.  About  150  years  ago,  owing  to  inter- 
tribal war,  a  number  of  the  Hidery  living  in  the  northern  towns, 
crossed  over  to  the  islands  lying  off  the  coast  of  Southern  Alaska. 
Since  that  time  the  Hidery  have  occupied  all  the  north  coast 
island  group  and  also  the  Prince  of  Wales  Archipelago.  To 
British  Columbia  all  the  Queen  Charlotte  Island  group  belong, 
and  to  Alaska  the  other  groups.  On  the  west  coast  the  Queen 


HIDERY   LAND.  9 

Charlotte  group  are  mountainous  and  covered  with  timber.  The 
eastern  parts  are  level,  with  large  tracts  of  open  land,  some  of 
which  is  swampy,  owing  to  the  streams  being  filled  with  log  jams, 
which  prevents  the  bottom  lands  from  being  drained.  The  west 
coast  is  very  wet,  while  the  east  is  dry.  The  climate  owing  to  its 
humidity,  is  often  chilly,  but  not  extremely  cold.  I  have  lived  on 
these  islands  throughout  the  year  and  never  found  the  frost  below 
zero.  As  far  as  I  have  seen,  all  sorts  of  vegetables  may  be  grown 
there,  fruit  trees  seem  to  do  well.  As  for  cereals  I  can  only  say  that 
wheat,  barley  and  oats  have  been  tried  as  an  experiment  and 
found  to  ripen,  peas  do  well,  so  do  potatoes,  turnips  and  carrots. 
Small  fruits  grow  abundantly  on  the  hill  sides.  Wild  straw- 
berries, large  and  luscious,  grow  in  rich  profusion  on  the  new 
made  lands  left  by  a  receding  sea  on  a  rising  land. 

There  seems  to  be  large  quantities  of  valuable  timber  on  all 
of  these  islands,  the  principal  sorts  are,  first:  the  western  hem- 
lock, Abeis  Mertensii  and  spruce,  A.  Menzeseii.  These  sorts  are 
good  for  lumber  and  for  packing  boxes.  Of  cedars  there  are 
two  sorts, yellow  cedar  Cupressus,  Neotkatensis,  and  the  large  red 
cedar,  Thuja  giganteus.  Of  these,  the  first  is  good  for  fancy 
work,  out  of  the  other  the  Indians  build  their  houses,  make  their 
large  canoes  and  often  their  dishes.  On  these  islands  there  are 
no  hard  woods,  excepting  a  native  crab  apple,  also  a  species  of 
alder  peculiar  to  these  islands,  which  is  found  in  great  abund- 
ance and  used  as  fuel  by  steamers.  The  Indians  use  this 
wood  extensively  in  their  carvings.  Naturally  this  sort  of 
wood  gives  out  a  reddish  sap  which  would  discolor  their 
carvings.  In  order  to  hinder  this  the  Hidery  put  it  through 
a  process  which  makes  it  beautiful  and  white.  This  is  obtained 
in  the  following  manner:  A  tree  is  felled  and  a  piece  of  it  cut  to 
answer  the  purpose;  it  is  next  put  into  a  hot  fire  where  it  is  kept 
and  turned  until  thoroughly  scorched;  then  it  is  laid  in  the  sea, 
where  it  soaks,  never  less  than  twenty-four  hours,  when  it  is 
taken  out  and  trimmed.  When  dry  it  is  carved  into  shape  and 
looks  well. 

These  islands  contain  extensive  fields  of  coal,  bituminous 
and  anthracite.  Iron  is  also  found  in  large  quantities.  Gold, 
silver,  copper  and  lead  have  also  been  found  in  various  places. 


10  TALES  FROM  THE  HIDERY. 

There  is  a  soft  black  slate,  found  on  one  of  the  islands,  out  of 
which  the  people  make  large  numbers  of  their  carvings.  In  sev- 
eral places  are  salt  springs,  some  forming  quite  large  streams. 
Fisheries  are  extensive  along  the  coasts,  such  as  salmon,  her- 
rings, halibut,  sturgeon  and  cod.  Of  cod,  there  are  three 
sorts,  viz.  :  red,  black  and  true  cod.  The  rivers  also  abound  with 
trout.  These  rivers,  although  numerous,  are  generally  small, 
rapid  and  shallow ;  some  are  clear,  others  are  as  black  as  rum. 
On  the  higher  mountains,  snow  lingers  all  the  year.  Of  wild 
animals,  there  are  sea  and  land  otters,  martins  and  black  bears. 
Such  is  Hidery  L,and. 

THE   HIDERY   PEOPLE — THEIR   NAME. 

The  most  of  writers  spell  their  name  Haida,  Hydah.  Their 
name,  as  pronounced  by  themselves,  is  Hidery,  which  signifies 
people,  when  they,  themselves,  are  meant.  All  other  people  are 
pronounced  Hawdry. 

In  personal  appearance,  they  are  taller  and  fairer  than  their 
cousins  on  the  mainland,  many  resembling  Chinese,  while  others 
are  Japanese  in  feature.  Tradition  says  the  darker  people  came 
from  Alaska,  and  the  fairer  ones  are  the  descendants  of  three 
Chinamen  who  were  cast  ashore  on  the  southern  end  of  these 
islands  ages  ago,  who  married  and  lived  with  the  tribes.  They 
are  a  very  ingenious  people,  excelling  in  carving;  not  only  do 
they  excell  in  wood  carving,  as  was  shown  in  their  exhibit  at  the 
late  great  Chicago  Fair,  and  which  is  still  to  be  seen  in  the 
Field  Columbian  Museum  in  Jackson  Park,  in  that  city,  but  also 
in  the  black  slate  of  their  country.  They  are  also  proficient 
workers  in  gold  and  silver.  They  all  make  good  sailors  and  often 
ship  to  distant  ports.  Socially  they  are  divided  into  four  classes, 
namely:  chiefs,  nobles,  common  people  and  Skaggy  or  medicine 
men.  The  chieftancy  is  hereditary.  Failing  heirs,  either  one 
nearest  of  kin  to  the  chief,  or  one  of  influence  in  the  village  takes 
the  office,  or  if  the  chief  leaves  a  widow,  she,  if  she  wishes,  takes 
her  late  husband's  place.  The  office  of  chief  is  to  preside  at  the 
council  of  a  tribe,  to  settle  disputes  or  lead  on  the  braves  in  times 
of  war,  to  give  names  and  confer  titles  and  honors  on  members 
of  his  tribe,  male  or  female.  The  chief  is  to  a  certain  extent 
supported  by  his  tribe,  as  I  will  show  by  and  by.  The  nobles 


THE  HI DERY PEOPLE.  II 

and  common  people  differ  but  little,  though  to  a  certain  extent 
distinct,  because  any  boy  or  girl  by  being  saving  and  industrious 
may  one  day  become  the  highest  in  their  land.  As  soon  as  one 
acquires  property,  or  enough  to  pay  for  it,  the  chief  gives  him  a 
good  and  honorable  name,  he  at  first  having  been  given  an 
ugly,  nasty  one,  one  he  was  ashamed  of,  in  order  to  make 
him  try  for  a  better  one.  Every  time  he  is  able  to  invite 
others  of  his  own  tribe,  as  well  as  neighboring  ones,  to  a  great 
"give-away,"  he  gets  a  higher  name  as  well  as  rank.  Money 
with  them  as  well  as  with  many  others,  is  an  "open  sesame"  and 
leads  to  higher  crests  and  more  black  and  white  bands  on  their 
mortuary  columns.  Their  rank  is  shown  by  red,  white  and 
black  bars.  Thus  the  bears  have  their  *tan  gue,  or  bear's  ears, 
the  beavers  have  their  marks  on  the  tail.  Rank  is  also  shown 
by  the  tattoo  marks,  which  the  young  men  have  on  their  breasts 
and  the  young  women  on  their  arms  and  legs.  Amongst  these 
people,  the  bigger  the  labret  or  lip  piece,  the  higher  the  rank 
among  the  women  folks.  Medicine  men  and  women,  or  medicine 
folks,  are  named  skaggy,  that  is  an  abbreviation  of  skah  gillda 
or  long  haired  ones ;  so  named,  because,  both  sexes  wore  their 
hair  long  and  tied  up  in  a  crown  knot.  In  by-gone  days  the 
skaggy  held  the  office  of  priest  as  well  as  doctor.  'As  a  priest, 
being  clairvoyant,  he  was  generally  consulted  on  the  affairs  of  this 
life  as  well  as  the  next.  This  will  be  shown  in  the  tales.  A 
skaggy 's  outfit  consisted  of  a  medicine  rattle,  a  rod  or  staff  of 
office,  a  couple  of  sharp  pointed  bones,  one  of  which  he  usually 
held  in  his  hand,  the  other  in  a  hole  made  for  it  through  the  divi- 
sion of  the  nostrils.  He  also  wore  a  necklace  of  sharks'  teeth. 
Around  his  waist  he  wore  an  apron  fringed  with  puffins' 
beaks,  named  by  the  Hidery  coohan.  The  female  skaggy  had  a 
couple  of  circles  strung  with  beaks.  These  she  held,  one  in  each 
hand,  which  with  her  every  movement  would  make  a  rustling 
sound.  These  were  the  clecha  darran.  Of  these  things,  the 
rattle  was  used  to  scare  away  the  trouble,  as  well  as  to  give  notice 
of  the  arrival  of  the  skaggy .  The  pointed  bones  were  used  to  probe 
any  abscess  or  such  like.  The  staff  was  about  four  feet  long, 
carved  all  over  with  mystic  symbols.  When  the  medicine  man 
*Tan,  a  black  bear — gue,  ears. 


12  TALES  FROM  THE  HIDERY. 

arrived  at  any  sick  person's  bed  he  would  knock  on  the  floor, 
then  poke  the  sick  party,  saying:  "get  up,  get  up."  If  able  the 
patient  did  so.  if  not  other  means  were  tried.  The  skaggy  always 
reminded  me  of  the  priests  as  represented  on  the  tablets  of  palen- 
que,  and  others  of  the  ruined  cities  of  South  America.  When 
the  skaggy  died  he  was  always  wrapt  in  mats  and  blankets  and 
his  body  laid  away  in  a  house  prepared  as  his  tomb,  or  sathling- 
un  nah,  on  some  lonely  rock  or  island,  with  two  or  more  wooden 
images  outside  as  guardians  of  the  body.  These  were  known 
amongst  the  Hidery  by  the  names  of  cull-stum-gay  and  ligga 
deich,  the  latter  name  being  borrowed  from  the  Simsheans. 
These  sort  of  beings  are  represented  as  male  and  female,  having 
the  body  of  a  man  or  woman  with  legs  like  a  goat,  a  sort  of 
satyr,  who  lived  in  woodlands  and  among  the  mountains.  They 
are  represented  as  being  great  thieves  from  whom  nothing  could 
be  hidden,  so  in  order  to  prevent  the  real  cull-stum-gays  from 
stealing  the  body,  the  skaggy's  relations  had  dummies  placed 
outside. 

THE   HIDERY   AS   GAMBLERS. 

The  Hidery,  like  the  Chinese  to-day,  used  to  be  inveterate 
gamblers.  They  had  three  modes  of  gambling,  first,  by  having 
a  small  bit  of  wood  concealed  in  the  hand  while  the  opposite 
party  guessed  which  hand  it  was  in;  the  second  was  by  moving 
a  number  of  wooden  discs  under  the  hand  while  covered 
with  fine  cedar  bark  fibre;  the  third  style  was  by  a  num- 
ber of  painted  sticks  about  three  inches  in  length,  in  pairs — how 
they  played  with  them  I  can  hardly  tell.  Several  years  ago  they 
left  off  all  sort  of  chance  games.  They  used  to  be  so  fond  of 
gambling  that  I  have  known  them  to  lose  all  they  had,  leaving 
themselves  stark  naked. 

HIDERY    HOUSES. 

In  building  their  houses  the  Hidery  followed  one  general 
plan,  with  modifications  according  to  rank  or  social  standing. 
For  instance,  some  had  totem  posts  in  front  and  inside  of  their 
houses,  while  others  were  only  painted  showing  the  crest  of  its 
owners.  The  second  house  in  the  model  Hidery  village  at  the 
late  World's  Fair  at  Chicago,  the  house  on  the  left  of  the  stream, 
belonged  to  this  sort.  It  is  one  of  the  moon  crest,  as  is  shown  by 


HIDERY   HOUSES.  13 

the  painted  moon  on  the  front  of  the  house.  Of  this  I  shall  treat 
more  fully  while  speaking  of  the  moon  clan  and  its  tales.  The 
third  painted  house  in  the  above  collection,  was  another  of  this 
style  of  house,  but  connected  with  the  bear  clan.  The  painting 
on  the  front  was  a  bear's  face,  whence  its  name  of  chooity  a  chle- 
chia,  that  is,  bear's  mouth.  This  house  was  the  meeting  place  of 
the  bear  clan.  Of  this  I  shall  say  more  while  speaking  of  the 
bear  clan. 

HIDERY   HOUSES — HOW   BUILT. 

In  length,  the  houses  of  these  people  ranged  from  thirty  to 
sixty  feet,  or  even  more;  in  width,  from  twenty-nine  to  fifty 
feet.  Some  houses  had  an  excavation  from  the  surface  to  a 
depth  of  from  six  to  ten  feet.  To  the  chiefs  only  belonged  this 
kind  of  house.  The  common  people  could  not  afford  to  make 
them.  The  sides  of  this  hole  were  cribbed  with  heavy  cedar 
beams,  ten  feet  inside  from  the  walls.  This  space  was  divided 
into  compartments,  having  an  upper  floor  with  hatches.  In  these 
divisions,  everything  easily  hurt  by  frost  was  kept.  All  the 
floors  of  their  houses,  excepting  a  piece  five  feet  square  for  a  fire- 
place, were  covered  with  heavy  planking.  This  fire-place  was 
filled  with  clean  sea  gravel.  When  dirty,  it  was  cleaned  out  and 
refilled,  the  refuse  being  cast  on  shore,  forming  a  midden.  In 
the  roof,  above  the  fire-place,  was  the  smoke-hole.  Every  house 
had  four  heavy  corner  posts  deeply  sunk  in  the  ground.  Each 
of  these  posts  had  a  mortice  through  which  heavy  cross  beams 
were  placed,  in  order  to  form  the  roof.  On  these  boards  were 
placed  long  cedar  beams,  six  in  number,  three  being  on  each  side. 
The  two  lowest  of  the  six  were  grooved  throughout  their  whole 
length,  the  groove  being  placed  downward.  On  the  surface  of  the 
ground  were  also  placed  six  broad  beams,  also  grooved,  these 
grooves  being  placed  upward.  In  order  to  form  the  walls,  broad 
cedar  boards  were  forced  along  into  these  grooves.  Two  sorts  of 
covering  were  used  for  the  roof  by  the  Hidery,  cedar  bark  and 
cedar  boards.  Sometimes  boards  only  were  used  and  sometimes 
both,  the  boards  beneath  and  the  bark  on  top.  Inside  of  the 
houses  were  little  rooms,  big  enough  for  a  bed  and  chair,  with 
sometimes  a  small  table.  These  small  bed-rooms  were  portable 
and  would  be  moved  to  any  part  of  the  house  according  to  fancy. 


14  TALKS   FROM  THE   HIDERY. 

None  of  the  houses  had  upper  floors,  instead  a  large  number  of 
poles  was  suspended  from  the  roof,  for  drying  fish  and  hanging 
fishing  tackle,  etc. 

All  sorts  of  food  were  served  on  the  floor  in  wooden  dishes. 
Flesh  meats  were  held  in  dishes,  and  after  being  cut  into  small 
pieces  by  bone  or  copper  knives,  were  passed  to  the  mouth  by 
the  fingers.  They  used  spoons  for  all  sorts  of  soups;  these  spoons 
were  made  from  deer  horns  as  well  as  carved  out  of  wood;  the 
spoon  handles  were  nicely  ornamented  by  squares  of  abalone 
shells,  glued  fast  into  the  handles  by  glue  made  from  halibut  fins 
boiled  down. 

Every  town  was  named  after  its  chief,  such  as  Skidegat's 
town,  after  its  chief  Skidegat;  Gumshewa's  town  after  its  chief 
Gumshewa.  Besides  these  they  had  other  names,  such  as  Tilth - 
cah-getla,  the  Hidery  name  for  Skidegat.  Every  house  had  a 
characteristic  name,  as  nah  clechas>  new  house;  nah  yonans, 
large  house;  noo  gah  deelans,  thunder  and  lightning  house- 
so  named  by  the  man  who  built  it,  meaning  he  had  the  best 
house;  coot-cuh-towel-cah-coot-coo-nah,  rain-bow  house,  or  pathway 
of  the  angels  house.  According  to  Hidery  belief,  when  the  end 
of  a  rainbow  seemingly  rested  on  the  roof  of  a  house,  it  was  said 
to  be  the  pathway  of  the  angels,  bringing  blessings  to  the  people 
living  in  this  house.  Sen-i-coot-quin-nie,  was  the  house  of  con- 
tentment, or  contented  people's  house,  and  nah-qweega-heegin, 
wind-sounding  house.  Often  a  house  had  on  its  roof  something 
to  show  its  name.  For  instance,  a  house  in  the  village  of  Skide- 
gat had  a  raven  on  top  of  each  front  corner  post,  showing  its 
name  to  be  raven  house,  choo-e-ah  nass.  This  house  stood  on  the 
south  end  of  the  model  village  at  the  great  Chicago  Fair. 

When  the  people  living  in  a  house  had  lots  of  boxes,  or  one 
for  a  door  step,  they  got  the  name  of  cotta-nass-hidery,  box-house 
people.  If  the  people  living  in  a  house  had  lots  of  copper  cross 
T  money,  they  got  the  name  of  tau-scho-ass  hidery,  or  copper 
tau(T)  house  people.  Many  years  ago  while  building  a  house 
on  the  south  end  of  Queen  Charlotte  Islands,  there  happened 
a  severe  earthquake,  clagah  heeldans.  So  ever  after  this 
house  was  known  as  nah  rah  fieeldans,  house  of  the  shaking. 
Often  while  building  a  stylish  house,  the  owner  would  have 


HIDERY   HOUSES.  15 

an  image  of  a  man  on  top  of  the  two  front  corner  posts,  a  repre- 
sentation of  himself,  for  instance.  Many  years  ago  a  rich  Hidery , 
named  Ellzu-wuss,  was  building  himself  a  second  house,  on  which 
as  above,  was  placed  an  image  of  himself.  Looking  over  it  when 
finished,  he  was  so  pleased  with  it  that  he  exclaimed,  "  I  have 
the  best  house  in  town,  a  regular  thunder  and  lightning  one."  So 
there  and  then  it  was  named  noo-gah-deelans — thunder  and  light- 
ning house.  The  two  images  had  on  long  hats  or  taden  skeels,  repre- 
senting high  social  standing.  In  the  miniature  village  in  Chicago 
is  a  house  which  has  on  the  ends  of  its  six  roof-beams  six  heads 
all  hanging  down;  in  the  original  house  at  Skidegat,  each  head 
had  hair  fixed  on  it,  which  waved  in  the  wind.  On  that  account 
it  got  the  name  of  six  heads  house,  cadzo-clou-oonal-nass.  The  owner 
of  this  house  and  his  fore-bears  have  taken  that  name  but  shortened 
to  clads-ah-coon.  The  family  bearing  this  name  was  ellzu  catk- 
lans-coon-hidery ,  or  chief  of  the  point  of  the  waves  people.  Sev- 
eral generations  ago  these  people  chose  a  beautiful  point  of  land, 
whereon  to  build  their  village,  on  the  east  of  Queen  Charlotte 
Island,  known  by  the  above  name  Point  of  the  Waves.  Some 
time  after  they  got  settled  an  immense  tidal  wave  carried  off  the 
entire  village.  Five  times  it  was  destroyed  and  four  times  re- 
built. Unable  to  rebuild  any  longer,  the  chief,  by  the  request  of 
his  people,  went  and  bought  a  piece  of  land  from  the  people  of 
Skidegat,  lying  at  the  east  end  of  the  village.  To  this  they  all 
removed  with  their  belongings  and  here  they  made  a  home  for 
themselves,  led  by  the  old  chief.  In  their  new  home  all  the 
houses  were  arranged  as  they  stood  in  the  old  one;  following  the 
same  order  their  descendants  live  to-day  still  retaining  their  old 
tribal  name,  point  of  the  waves  people,  even  the  new  style  houses 
keeping  the  old  names. 

Although  these  old-time  houses  long  ago  gave  place  to  newer 
styles,  yet  by  help  from  the  old  folks  I  was  able  to  represent,  in 
miniature,  for  the  Fair,  this  old  village. 

Now,  with  regard  to  the  six  heads  mentioned  above,  the  fol- 
lowing will  explain.  While  this  chief  and  his  people  were  build- 
ing on  the  point  he  was  unable  to  settle  on  the  plan  of  his  new 
house.  While  in  this  dilemma,  he  one  night  dreamed  of  or  saw 
in  a  vision,  a  plan  of  a  complete  house  with  totem  post  and  all, 


It>  TALKS   FROM   THE  HIDERY. 

with  this  difference;  he  saw  on  the  ends  of  the  six  roof-beams 
the  same  number  of  human  heads  placed  upside  down,  their  long 
hair  waving  in  the  wind.  He  was  told  in  the  dream  to  go  and 
build  his  new  house  like  it.  This  he  did  and  ever  after,  both  at 
the  Point  of  the  Waves  and  later  at  Skidegat  his  descendants 
have  used  the  six  heads  for  the  same  purpose,  until  a  few  years 
ago,  when  the  house  was  pulled  down,  in  order  to  be  reproduced 
after  the  white  people's  style.  The  model  of  this  house,  which 
I  got  for  the  great  Fair,  was  made  by  a  descendant  of  the  chief 
who  first  made  the  six  heads.  Images  were  put  on  houses  for 
various  purposes.  The  one  I  am  about  to  speak  of  was  made  out 
of  revenge  for  a  supposed  insult,  as  the  following  will  show.  On 
the  tops  of  the  two  front  corner  posts,  in  a  house  belonging  to 
one  of  the  better  class,  whose  name  was  Gsthlans,  in  the  above 
mentioned  village  of  Skidegat,  a  number  of  years  ago,  were 
two  images,  which  could  easily  be  recognized  as  other  than 
Hidery.  On  the  left  of  the  observer,  was  one  with  a  long  hat 
and  frock  coat.  The  other,  on  the  right,  had  on  a  cap  with  a 
peak  in  front.  The  first  represented  the  police  magistrate  of  this 
city,  Victoria;  the  other  represented  George  Smith  Clark  of  the 
above  city.  In  or  about  the  summer  of  1870,  this  Gathlans  left 
Skidegat,  in  order  to  have  a  few  months  sojourn  in  Victoria,  see- 
ing the,  to  him,  strange  houses  and  improvements  of  the  new 
comers.  While  in  Victoria,  one  day  he  got  jolly  drunk  and  in 
good  fighting  trim;  the  noise  he  made  was  such  that  it  soon 
brought  along  the  police,  who  quickly  had  him  locked  up.  Next 
day,  feeling  sadly  out  of  repair,  he  was  up  before  the  above  men- 
tioned magistrate,  Judge  Pemberton,  charged  with  being  drunk 
and  disorderly.  After  conviction,  he  was  fined  $50,  or  six 
months  imprisonment.  Not  having  the  money  to  pay  his  fine, 
he  was  locked  up;  after  a  few  days,  his  friends,  who  had  raised 
the  money,  came  and  paid  his  fine,  which  gave  him  his  liberty. 
For  the  loss  of  so  much  money  and  the  insult  to  his  dignity,  by 
being  in  prison,  he  was  determined  to  have  his  revenge,  and  this 
is  how  he  thought  he  had  it.  Smarting  under  his  supposed  in- 
sult, he  took  the  earliest  opportunity  to  get  home,  where  he  lost 
no  time  in  setting  a  carver  to  make  a  couple  of  effigies  of  the 
judge  and  his  clerk,  which,  when  finished,  were  placed  on  his 


PATLATCHES.  I  j 

house-top,  in  hopes  that  every  passer-by  would  jeer  and  mock 
the  originals  through  their  representations.  By  doing  so  he  fan- 
cied he  had  his  revenge.  A  few  years  afterwards  I  visited  the 
village,  and  while  there  I  saw  the  images  and  heard  their  story. 
When  I  returned  to  Victoria,  I  gave  a  short  account  of  it  in  one 
of  the  local  newspapers.  Some  time  after  I  met  the  Judge,  who 
inquired  if  the  story  was  true  ;  when  I  told  him  it  was,  bethought 
it  a  capital  joke,  and  told  me  he  had  fined  several  of  the  Hidery 
for  the  same  offense,  in  a  like  sum. 

While  amongst  these  people  in  the  summer  of  1892,  I  was 
surprised  to  see  how  changed  the  place  was:  all  the  houses  built 
in  the  olden  times,  with  the  exception  of  three,  had  been  pulled 
down,  in  order  to  make  room  for  the  march  of  civilization.  See- 
ing the  change,  I  made  inquiry  as  to  the  whereabouts  of  the  two 
effigies,  wishing  to  take  them  home  with  me.  I  was  told,  that  after 
they  were  taken  down  they  stood  in  a  wood  shed  a  long  time,  and 
finally  were  cut  up  for  fire  wood. 

PATLATCHES. 

Patlatches,  or  give  away.  This  is  the  Chinook  name  of  the 
great  feast  or  give  away.  Each  nation  on  this  western  slope  used 
to  reckon  on  having  one  at  least  every  year.  Patlatches  was 
a  custom  or  mode  of  sending  out  invitations,  paying  debts,  as 
well  as  acquiring  new  names,  honors,  etc.,  by  giving  a  great 
feast  and  making  presents  to  all  the  invited  guests.  For  instance, 
when  a  chief  of  a  tribe  had  acquired  property  and  wished  to  rank 
higher  in  the  social  forms  of  his  tribe  and  nation,  a  number  of 
his  tribemen  would  be  sent  in  all  directions,  wherever  there  was 
a  village,  in  order  to  invite  all  who  wished  to  come,  to  be  at  his 
village  on  a  certain  day.  The  invited  ones  very  seldom  failed  to 
make  their  appearance  ;  some  came  to  pay  their  debts  and  again 
get  into  debt  deeper  than  before.  Those  from  a  certain  village  or 
district  generally  came  in  a  body  of  from  five  to  twenty  or  more 
canoes,  as  the  case  might  be.  If  there  happened  to  be  any  big 
guns  in  the  village,  the  visitors  were  welcomed  by  a  salute.  As 
the  visitors  drew  near,  all  the  people  in  the  village  came  out  and 
squatted  in  front  of  their  houses,  or  sat  in  groups  within  hearing 
of  the  visitors,  who  at  the  same  time  rested  on  their  oars,  keeping 


1 8  TALES  FROM  THE  HIDERY. 

afloat  a  few  yards  from  the  shore.  Meanwhile,  both  parties  would 
sit  from  ten  to  fifteen  minutes  without  exchanging  a  word. 
Then  a  movement  is  seen  in  one  of  the  canoes  to  get  together  a 
few  bundles  of  split  cedar,  each  piece  about  fourteen  inches  in 
length  and  as  thick  as  a  man's  finger,  and  to  place  them  along- 
side of  the  chief.  When  these  bunches  were  untied,  the  chief 
arose  and  harangued  the  people  on  shore,  throwing  at  the  same 
time  these  splints  one  by  one  ashore.  As  soon  as  one  was  thrown, 
another  was  passed  up  to  the  speaker,  who  kept  on  talking  and 
throwing  until  all  had  been  thrown  ashore.  The  sticks  repre- 
sented goods  obtained  at  a  former  patlatch,  which  were  returned 
with  interest,  and  they  also  represented  presents  which  the  visit- 
ors were  making,  presents  for  which  they  expected  to  be  repaid 
double,  according  to  aboriginal  usage.  The  chief,  in  his  ha- 
rangue, said :  '  'We  have  come  from  such  and  such  a  place  by 
your  invitation.  These  sticks  represent  the  amount  of  goods  re- 
ceived from  you  while  here  before ;  we  return  the  same  amount 
with  interest,  two  for  one ;  also  we  bring  you  presents,  which 
doubtless  you  will  accept."  When  done  with  talking,  he  would 
sit  down.  Then  the  village  chief  would  say  a  few  words  by  way 
of  welcome  ;  meanwhile  all  the  canoes  were  making  for  shore, 
to  which  they  quickly  passed  all  their  belongings.  Seeing  this, 
all  the  people  in  the  village  hastened  down  to  help  them.  Very 
soon  everything  was  snugly  stowed  away  and  the  canoes  hauled 
safely  above  high  water.  While  all  this  was  being  enacted,  a 
meal  was  being  prepared  by  the  villagers  who  gave  the  feast. 
When  ready,  all  had  to  come  and  partake.  In  olden  times  their 
food  consisted  chiefly  of  deer,  bear  and  seal  meat,  with  often  tid- 
bits from  whales  added;  along  with  these  were  wild  fowls,  roots 
and  berries.  The  flesh  meats  were  generally  cut  up  into  small 
pieces,  according  to  circumstances,  neither  knives  nor  forks, 
only  spoons,  being  used.  The  food,  when  ready,  was  emptied 
into  troughs  of  various  lengths,  cut  out  of  a  block  of  wood  ;  these 
were  placed  in  rows  along  the  floor ;  along  both  sides  of  them 
the  people  squatted  and  picked  up  the  pieces  with  their  fingers, 
while  for  the  soup  the  spoon  was  used.  Quite  a  change  has  come 
over  these  feasts  of  late  years  by  the  use  of  tea,  coffee,  bread 
and  butter,  also  preserves  and  many  other  things.  After  the 


PATLATCHES.  19 

feast,  the  remainder  of  the  day  was  spent  singing  and  dancing. 
Before  the  give  away  commences,  the  chief,  or  whosoever  gives 
it,  gets  all  his  goods  in  order,  blankets,  canoes,  paints,  and  such 
like,  and  money,  if  any.  If  he  thinks  there  is  not  enough  to 
meet  the  demand,  he  borrows  from  other  members  of  the  tribe. 
When  the  time  for  giving  away  arrives,  the  chief  mounts  on 
the  roof  of  his  house,  or  on  a  platform  raised  for  that  purpose, 
with  a  pile  of  goods  before  him,  while  all  the  people  are  gathered 
below.  Then  he  commences  by  throwing  a  blanket  to  one,  a 
shirt  to  another,  telling  a  certain  one  in  the  crowd  to  take  a 
canoe  in  a  certain  place,  and  so  forth,  until  all  have  been  given 
away.  Often  a  scramble  took  place.  Three  or  four  would  catch 
hold  of  a  blanket  and  none  of  them  would  let  go  until  it  was 
torn  to  shreds.  Then  one  would  give  the  others  so  much  for 
their  pieces,  sew  them  together  and  use  them.  When  money 
was  given  away,  it  was  either  given  to  certain  parties,  or  scattered 
amongst  the  crowd;  sometimes  it  was  thrown  into  shallow  water. 
Then  came  fun  for  the  naked  boys  and  girls.  The  chief,  who 
gave  the  patlatch,  although  he  got  himself  a  better  name  as  well 
as  higher  social  standing  by  doing  so,  was  always  left  in  poverty, 
but  not  long,  because  as  I  said  before,  everything  given  away 
had  to  be  returned,  often  double  ;  that  is  to  say,  for  every  single 
article  given  away,  two  had  to  be  returned.  Sometimes,  when 
people  of  different  nations  and  languages  were  invited,  then  all 
of  the  tribe  were  expected  to  help  without  returns.  At  these 
patlatches,  the  higher  the  standing  in  the  social  scale  of  the  man 
or  woman,  the  more  he  got.  When  anyone  built  a  new  house,  a 
patlatch  was  given  to  all  who  helped,  as  well  as  to  invited  friends. 
The  most  important  part  of  a  house  was  the  gayring  or  carved 
column,  totem  post,  as  it  is  generally  named.  In  order  to  have 
one,  the  first  act  was  for  a  party  to  go  into  the  woods  and  select 
a  tree  of  a  given  size,  as  near  as  possible  to  the  sea.  When  a 
suitable  one  was  found,  it  was  cut  down  and  hewn  to  certain 
dimensions;  then  it  was  slid  into  the  water,  where  a  party  was 
in  waiting  in  a  canoe,  who  hauled  it  to  the  village  and  put  it  on 
shore.  On  shore,  it  went  into  the  hands  of  the  carvers,  who 
hewed  it  into  shape,  then  marked  one  side  of  it  into  sections. 
The  average  height  of  these  columns  was  thirty  feet,  divided  into 


20  TALKS  FROM  THE  HIDERY. 

five  sections  of  six  feet  each.  For  carving  each  of  these  sections 
ten  blankets  were  paid,  or,  in  all,  fifty  blankets.  These  blankets 
were  bought  by  the  bale  for  not  less  than  five  dollars  per  blanket, 
which  would  make  two  hundred  and  fifty  dollars  for  each  post. 
Generally  the  party  who  carved  one  section,  say  the  lower,  was  not 
allowed  to  carve  the  next,  unless  his  social  standing  allowed  him 
to  do  so,  and  in  like  manner,  through  all  the  five  sections  different 
carvers  were  employed.  When  finished,  all  the  villagers  helped 
to  raise  it.  If  they  were  unable  to  do  so,  help  was  secured  from 
another  village.  If  a  man  happened  to  die  while  his  house  was 
in  course  of  erection,  nothing  more  was  done  to  it.  At  Skidegat 
I  saw  a  column  lying  rotting,  which  had  been  ready  for  the 
carver  when  the  owner  died.  The  carvings  always  showed  the 
social  standing  of  the  heads  of  the  family  ;  the  wife's  on  top  of  the 
column,  because  she  ranked  highest  in  the  family  circle  ;  that  of 
the  husband  occupied  its  lower  half.  The  social  standing  of  the 
Hidery  was  represented  in  three  divisions  or  crests.  First,  the 
sexual  crest ;  second,  the  clan;  and  third,  the  secret  society  crest. 
Apart  from  these  three  was  the  totem.  The  sexual  crest  was  in- 
herited from  the  mother  and  passed  through  her  from  her  grand- 
mother to  all  of  her  children ;  for  example,  if  the  mothers  were 
'  'bears, ' '  all  the  children  were  the  same,  boys  and  girls.  The  girls, 
in  turn,  when  they  became  mothers,  gave  their  bear  crest  to  the 
children,  the  father's  crest  going  for  nothing.  The  clan,  or  fam- 
ily crest  was  held  by  every  member  of  the  family.  The  society 
crest  could  only  be  got  and  held  by  initiation  into  the  order,  and 
often  cost  large  sums  to  obtain.  The  totems  were  any  animals, 
birds,  or  any  thing  living,  which  crossed  a  child's  path  when  first 
trying  to  move  about ;  or,  any  thing  a  child  tried  to  say,  such  as 
deer,  dog  or  bear,  etc.  This  became  his  or  her  totem  ;  that  is, 
guardian  angel,  through  life.  Totems,  as  far  as  I  have  been  able 
to  learn,  have  long  been  in  disuse  among  the  Hidery. 

Hidery  crests  were  divided  into  two  great  phratries,  or  broth- 
erhoods, represented  by  the  raven,  named  by  the  Hidery,  Choo-e- 
ah,  and  the  eagle,  named  choot.  These  two  large  phratries  were 
represented  by  a  number  of  smaller  crests ;  for  example,  the  raven 
had  eleven  crests,  namely  :  wolf,  bear,  scannah  or  killer  whale, 
skate,  mountain  goat,  sea-lion,  chee-moose  or  snag-in-a-river, 


PATLATCHES.  21 

moon,  sun,  rainbow  and  scamsum  or  thunder  bird.  The  eagle 
has  the  following,  fourteen  in  all :  eagle,  raven,  frog,  beaver, 
shark,  moon,  duck,  codfish,  wasco,  whale,  owl,  dogfish,  sculpin, 
and  dragon  fly.  Each  of  these  crests  had  their  respective 
dances,  as  well  as  musical  instruments,  by  which  they  imitated 
the  call  of  their  individual  crests.  Their  dances  also  were  in 
imitation  of  the  walk  of  the  subject  adopted.  Connected  with 
these  crests  and  dances  were  circles  of  cedar  bark  of  various  colors. 
These  circles  represented  various  degrees.  For  instance,  one  circle 
denotes  one  degree,  while  two  circles  denote  two  degrees,  and  so 
onward. 

Before  I  take  up  the  tales,  there  are  a  few  things  of  impor- 
tance. On  top  of  a  number  of  columns  is  an  image  with  a 
tall  hat  marked  off  into  three  or  four  divisions;  on  others, 
are  two  or  three  images  with  hats.  The  single  one  with  the  taden 
skeel,  or  long  hat,  is  a  chief  or  a  person  of  two  or  three  degrees 
standing,  as  is  shown  by  his  hat.  When  there  are  three  images 
with  taden  skeel,  this,  in  some  instances,  shows  that  the  chief 
who  built  this  house  was  succeeded  by  one  or  two  brothers,  as 
the  case  might  be.  According  to  the  Hidery  legends,  these  three 
images  were  adopted  by  an  old  chief,  Skidegat,  from  a  very  old 
story,  which  runs  thus  :  Long  ago,  Ne-kilst-lass,  the  raven  god, 
turned  himself  into  a  beautiful  woman  and  three  men  fell  in  love 
with  her.  The  three  men  have  been  used  by  the  descendants  of 
the  old  chief  who  adopted  them.  Again,  it  was  customary  in 
old  times,  when  a  man  was  building  a  house,  to  kill  a  slave  and 
put  his  body  into  the  hole  made  for  the  gayring,  which,  when 
raised,  was  placed  on  the  body.  In  order  to  show  that  a  slave 
had  been  killed,  an  image  of  a  man  with  his  head  down  was 
carved  on  the  gayring.  The  Hidery  say  they  never  killed  a  slave 
for  that  purpose,  but  instead  they  sold  a  slave  for  what  he  or  she 
was  worth,  and  at  the  same  time  had  a  man  carved  with  his  head 
down.  The  Hidery  told  me  that  their  plan  for  collecting  their 
just  debts  when  due,  was  to  ask  for  payment  three  times,  and  if  still 
unpaid  after  that,  the  debtor  was  never  again  dunned.  Although 
he  was  not  again  asked  for  payment,  other  means  were  employed 
for  its  recovery,  as  follows  :  Seeing  that  nothing  could  be  done  by 
dunning,  the  creditor  had  a  gayring  erected  in  front  of  his  house, 


22  TALES  FROM  THE  HIDERY. 

on  which  was  carved  an  image  of  the  debtor  with  his  head  down, 
while  on  the  column  beside  the  image,  in  order  the  better  to  show 
who  the  debtor  was,  one  or  all  of  his  crests  were  carved.    The 
Hidery  tell  me  that  this  scheme  never  failed ;   often,   when  the 
debtor  saw  what  was  being  done,  he  came  and  paid  all  in  order 
to  save  himself  from  the  disgrace.     All  of   the  Indians  are  very 
proud  and  quickty  resent  an  insult.     If  the  one   who  gives   the 
offense  wishes  to  hear  no  more  of  it,  by  way  of  an  apology,  he 
pays  a  certain  number  of  blankets.     If  the   one   who  gives  the 
offense  objects  to  doing  so,   the  other  destroys  a  certain  amount 
of  his  property  before  the  villagers.     As  soon  as  the  offender  sees 
what  is  being  done,  he,  too,  destroys  the  same  amount  and  ends 
the  trouble.     If  the  offender  destroys  more  than  the  other,  he  is 
declared  to  be  the  better  man.     If  the  offender  objects  to  the  de- 
struction of  his  property,  he  is  despised  by  all  the  villagers.     If 
he  is  a  poor  man  and  has  nothing  to  destroy,  then  he,  too,  is  de- 
spised for  being  poor.     If  one  man,  when  building  a  house,  took 
part  of  a  crest  belonging  to  another,  thinking  he  had  a  right  to  it, 
the  man  from  whom  it  was  taken  called  together  a  council  of  the 
tribe,  at  which  the  rights  of  both  parties  were  discussed.     If  the 
decision  was  against  the  thief,  he  was  expected  to  give  up  all 
claim  to  the  parts  which  he  took.     If  he  refused  to  do  so,  the 
next  thing  in  order  was  the  destruction  of  property.    Whoever 
destroyed  the  most  kept  the  crest.    I  have  heard  of  a    case  in 
which  both,  of  the  contestants  were  left  in  poverty. 

RELIGIOUS  BELIEF  OF  THE  HIDERY. 

Until  lately  these  people  believed  in  a  Supreme  Being,  whose 
name  was  Ne-kilst-lass.  Under  that  name,  he  was  the  creator  and 
preserver  of  every  thing.  Under  other  names,  he  was  the  cause 
or  originator  of  every  discordant  and  evil  action  or  principle. 
In  all  of  his  works  of  creation  and  providence,  he  assumed  the 
form  of  a  raven,  by  which  name  he  was  understood  by  every  na- 
tion in  Northwestern  America.  In  Alaska  he  was  known  by  the 
name  of  Yethel  or  Yale ;  amongst  the  Hidery  he  was  known  by 
the  name  of  Choo-e-ah.  The  Hidery  believe  that  God,  that  is, 
Ne-kilst-lass,  is  the  common  father  of  all  and  that  all  mankind 
was  developed  from  his  connection  with  a  cockle,  and  the  evolu- 
tion of  the  race  was  the  natural  outcome  of  every  succeeding  gen- 


HIDERY   RELIGION.  23 

eration,  the  fittest  as  well  as  the  best  looking  being  chosen. 
They  believe  that  every  one  possesses  an  undying  soul,  and  in  eter- 
nal progression  after  death.  The  body,  they  say,  is  never  resur- 
rected. Until  lately  they  held  communion  with  the  spirits 
of  their  departed  relations.  With  them  the  female  is  the 
ruling  principle  in  nature.  This  was  shown  in  almost  everything 
connected  with  the  social  life  of  the  Hidery.  The  wife  was  the 
head  of  the  house.  She  gave  her  name  and  her  crest  to  her 
children.  The  phallic  idea  was  a  marked  feature  in  their  belief. 
The  entrance  to  their  houses  was  by  an  oval  hole  cut  through  the 
main  carved  column  or  gayring.  This  was  a  symbolization  of 
the  female  generative  organ.  Every  time  a  person  came  out  of 
or  went  into  the  house  he  was  reminded  of  his  advent  into  the 
world.  So  strong,  at  one  time,  was  the  phallic  belief  amongst 
them,  that  their  women,  after  puberty,  considered  it  their  duty 
to  encourage  at  all  times  sexual  intercourse. 

THE   HIDERY  TO-DAY. 

In  general,  the  Hidery  are  great  on  money  making.  They 
would  do  almost  any  thing  in  that  line,  and  for  everything  they 
expect  a  return.  "Give  nothing  for  nothing,"  is  their  motto. 
These  people  have  changed  astonishingly  during  the  past 
ten  years.  As  fast  as  they  could  get  lumber,  they  pulled  down 
the  old  houses  and  built  new  ones  after  our  style.  .  All  their  old 
dresses,  dancing  and  otherwise,  were  sold  as  fast  as  the}'  could 
find  a  buyer.  Unfortunately,  they  cut  down  for  fire  wood  their 
beautifully  carved"  totem  poles  and  made  no  more,  except  small 
ones  carved  out  of  the  black  slate  of  those  islands.  When  I 
was  amongst  them  lately,  I  never  saw  any  drunkenness;  besides 
they  had  become  honest.  The  greatest  ambition  of  the  Hidery 
to-day  is  to  have  a  fine  marble  tombstone  to  mark  his  or  her 
grave.  Generally  they  have  the  crest  to  which  they  belonged 
placed  on  top.  On  these  stones  were  carved  the  name  and  sup- 
posed age  of  the  party  at  death.  Often  a  party  saved  enough 
money  and  bought  his  own  tombstone,  having  the  place  and  date 
of  his  birth  engraved  on  it,  with  a  space  left  to  fill  up  after  death, 
fearing  his  relations  would  keep  the  money  and  not  buy  him  a 
stone  as  he  wished.  I  once  got  a  sum  of  money  from  a  Hidery 


24  TALES  FROM  THE  HIDERY. 

named  Jeremiah  Smith,  in  order  to  get  him  a  marble  tombstone, 
with  his  crest,  an  eagle,  I  think,  and  the  following  inscription 
carved  on  it : 

Erected  to  the  memory  of  old  Jeremiah  Smith. 
Born  at  Chah-atill,  Queen  Charlotte  Islands, 

Some  time  in  1823, 

And  departed  this  life  at  Heeni  Maud  Island, 
Queen  Charlotte  Islands, 

On  the ,  in  the  year ,  aged . 

After  I  had  it  made  and  sent  to  his  home,  he  stowed  it  away, 
saying,  "Now  I  am  content,  because  I  know  I  have  a  stone." 
He  lived  a  number  of  years  after  that  and  when  he  died  his  rela- 
tives had  the  stone  set  up  on  his  grave.  Whether  the  blank  was 
ever  filled  or  not,  I  never  heard.  After  this  brief  description, 
the  reader  will  have  some  idea  of  the  Hidery  and  their  anteced- 
ents. There  yet  remains  a  great  deal  of  interesting  matter  untold. 
I  shall  now  give  the  crests  and  along  with  them  their  stories. 
While  doing  so,  a  deal  of  interesting  matter  omitted  in  order  to 
avoid  repetition,  will  be  given.  I  shall  begin  with  the  two  phra- 
tries :  first,  the  raven  ;  then,  the  eagle.  While  giving  the  crests, 
I  shall  show  their  connection  with  the  Hidery,  in  particular. 

TALES  FROM  THE  RAVEN  CREST. 

As  I  have  already  said,  there  are  amongst  the  Hidery  two 
great  phratries  or  brotherhoods,  the  raven  and  the  eagle,  so 
named,  because  one  brotherhood  is  represented  by  the  raven  and 
the  other  by  the  eagle.  Amongst  the  Hidery  the  raven  has 
eleven  gens  or  crests  in  its  phratry  ;  the  eagle  has  fourteen.  In 
some  villages  the  raven  ranks  highest ;  in  others,  the  eagle.  As 
a  phratry  and  as  a  crest,  both  have  their  songs  and  dances,  as 
well  as  their  musical  instruments  and  stories.  These  instruments 
were  used  only  to  give  the  call  or  cry  of  the  bird  or  animal  which 
represented  the  coat  of  arms  of  the  famil/,  or  clan.  Besides  be- 
ing used  as  a  totem,  the  raven  had  higher  dignity  than  all  the 
others,  inasmuch  as  he  was  a  symbolization  of  the  god  Ne-kilst- 
lass,  who  in  all  his  works  of  creation  and  providence  assumed  the 
form  and  features  of  a  raven,  whence  the  habit  of  all  the  aborig- 
ines of  these  northern  lands  using  the  name  of  the  raven  while 


THE   RAVEN   CREST.  25 

speaking  of  their  ancient  deity.  Under  the  name  of  Ne-kilst-lass, 
he  was  the  originator  and  perfecter  of  all  good.  By  other 
names  he  was  known  as  the  originator  of  all  evil.  He  had  no 
beginning,  neither  will  he  have  an  end.  In  the  shape  of  a  raven 
before  this  world  existed,  he  brooded  over  the  intense  darkness, 
until  after  eons  of  ages,  by  the  constant  flapping  of  his  wings,  he 
beat  down  the  darkness  into  solid  earth.  After  the  earth  became 
solid,  the  light  on  its  surface  was  dim  and  misty,  so  in  order  to 
light  up  the  new  formed  globe,  according  to  the  Hidery,  Ne-kilst- 
lass  traveled  far  and  wide  for  that  purpose.  During  his  travels 
he  heard  of  a  chief  who  lived  far  away,  who  had  the  sun,  moon 
and  stars  in  three  separate  boxes ;  so  to  this  chief  he  went  to  try 
what  could  be  done  with  him.  When  the  chief  was  asked  for  the 
boxes  he  refused  to  let  him  have  even  one.  While  Ne-kilst-lass 
was  there,  he  noticed  that  the  chief  had  a  good  looking  daugh- 
ter ;  so  he  went  away  and  turned  himself  into  a  nice  looking  boy 
and  wandered  back  to  the  chief's  house.  When  the  chief  saw 
him  he  told  him  to  come  in  and  stay  awhile.  This  the  boy  gladly 
did.  After  awhile  the  boy  and  girl  took  a  great  fancy  to  each 
other.  After  a  while  the  girl  coaxed  her  father  to  let  the  boy 
have  one  of  those  boxes,  so  he  gave  him  the  one  which  held  the 
stars.  Then  a  little  while  after,  in  the  same  manner  he  got  the 
second  box  which  held  the  moon.  Afterward  he  begged  hard  for 
the  box  which  held  the  sun.  This,  the  chief  at  first  refused  to 
part  with,  but  after  repeated  requests  from  the  young  folks,  heat 
last  let  it  go.  As  soon  as  the  god  possessed  all  the  boxes,  he  placed 
them  on  high  where  they  have  been  ever  since,  giving  light  to 
the  world. 

ANOTHER  VERSION. 

The  Cowitchiaus  of  Vancouver  Island  say  that  Queenia,  a 
sort  of  duck  which  swims  about  in  flocks  and  whose  cry  is 
called  by  the  white  people  "sou  sou  southerly,"  had  the  three 
boxes  containing  the  heavenly  bodies.  These  he  always  took  with 
him  in  his  canoe  when  he  went  fishing,  for  the  double  purpose  of 
having  light  to  fish  and  being  afraid  lest  they  should  be  stolen. 
Spaul,  the  raven  god,  being  anxious  to  get  hold  of  them,  asked 
Queenia  to  part  with  them,  in  order  to  place  them  in  the  heavens 


26  TALES  PROM  THE  HIDERY. 

and  give  light  to  the  world.  This  Queenia  refused  to  do,  so 
Spaul  said  no  more  about  them.  After  he  and  Queenia  had  been 
out  fishing  together  a  few  days,  he  again  asked  for  them;  to  his 
request  Queenia  gave  a  refusal.  Hearing  this,  Spaul  pitched 
him  overboard  and  held  him  down  until  drowned;  he  then  re- 
turned ashore,  leaving  poor  Queenia  behind  in  the  water.  As 
soon  as  Spaul  got  on  dry  land  he  opened  the  boxes  and  set  up 
the  lights  on  high,  where  they  have  remained  ever  since,  giving 
light  to  the  world. 

ANOTHER  VERSION. 

The  tribes  on  the  rivers  Naas  and  Skeena  have  another 
version  of  this  story.  They  say  that,  long  ago,  an  old  chief 
lived,  with  his  only  daughter,  where  the  Naas  now  flows,  who 
had  all  the  light  in  three  boxes.  These  Cauch,  the  raven  god, 
wanted  to  get  in  the  worst  way,  and  for  a  time  tried  to  get  hold 
of  them  without  success.  At  length  he  hit  on  a  plan.  He 
noticed  that  the  daughter  went  to  the  well  every  day  for  a  supply 
of  water.  While  there  she  often  had  a  drink.  So  he  turned 
himself  into  the  needle-like  leaf  of  the  spruce  tree  and  floated  on 
her  drinking  water  and  was  swallowed  by  her.  In  due  season 
she  gave  birth  to  a  son  who  was  none  other  than  Ne-kilst-lass,  or 
Cauch,  who  by  this  means  was  born  into  the  family.  He 
quickly  grew  up  to  be  a  big  boy  and  became  a  great  favorite  with 
his  grandfather,  who  spoiled  him  by  letting  him  have  all  he  asked 
for.  One  day  he  asked  the  old  man  for  one  of  the  boxes,  in 
order,  he  said,  to  play  with  it.  This  the  old  man  sturdily 
refused  to  grant.  Being  determined  to  have  all  of  them,  sooner 
or  later,  he  raised  such  a  row  in  the  family  as  only  a  spoiled 
youngster  could,  that  the  old  man  had  no  peace,  till  at  length  he 
got  angry  and  pointing  to  a  box  he  said,  "Here,  take  that  one 
and  play  with  it  until  you  get  tired.  "  So  he  quickly  took  the 
box  and  rolled  it  about  until  he  got  i  outside,  when  he  took  it 
up  and  dashed  it  to  pieces,  letting  out  a  flood  of  light,  because 
it  was  the  sun  box  he  had  got.  So  he  took  the  sun  and  placed 
it  on  high,  where  it  has  been  giving  light  to  the  world  ever  since. 
Having  got  the  sun  box  his  next  step  was  to  get  the  other  two. 
Knowing  well  he  could  not  play  the  old  game  he  thonght  of 


HIDERY   VERSIONS.  27 

another.  Having  heard  that  the  old  chief  had  gone  up  the  river 
fishing  for  oulachans,  he  made  for  himself  a  false  moon,  and  took 
a  canoe  and  went  up  the  river  to  meet  Settin-ki-jess,  the  old 
chief's  name.  While  the  chief  was  fishing  he  usually  took  the 
moon  out  of  its  box  in  order  to  give  him  light,  because  he  always 
fished  after  dark.  Before  getting  near  to  the  chief's  house  the 
raven  god  hid  the  false  moon  under  his  coat  of  feathers.  When 
he  reached  the  place  where  the  chief  dwelt  it  was  quite  dark. 
The  chief  said  to  the  raven,  "How  do  you  see  to  get  about  in 
the  dark  when  you  have  no  moon?"  "Oh,  well  enough,"  replied 
the  raven,  "I  have  a  moon  of  my  own,"  at  the  same  time  raising 
up  his  feathers  and  letting  out  a  little  light.  When  Settin-ki-jess 
saw  that  his  moon  was  not  as  he  believed  it  to  be,  the  only  one 
in  the  world,  he  lost  all  conceit  of  it  and  the  stars  and  left  the 
two  boxes  lying  about.  His  neglect  was  the  raven's  opportunity 
who  opened  the  two  boxes  and  let  out  their  contents,  which  were 
placed  in  the  heavens,  where  they  have  been  ever  since  and  will 
be  to  the  end. 

ANOTHER   HIDERY  VERSION. 

Engraven  on  one  or  two  of  the  totem  poles  attached  to  the 
little  houses  in  the  miniature  village  I  sent  to  the  Chicago  World's 
Fair,  was  a  raven  shown  in  the  act  of  flying  up  with  something 
in  his  beak,  painted  blue  and  as  big  as  a  dollar.  This  represents 
a  version  of  the  Hidery  story  of  how  Choo-e-ah,the  raven  god, got 
the  sun.  According  to  the  story,  he  heard  that  a  great  chief 
living  in  a  distant  part  of  the  country  had  the  sun  in  a  box,  so 
in  order  to  get  it  he  went  to  the  chief's  house  and  after  a  while 
found  where  the  precious  sun  was  kept.  He  said  nothing  to  any 
one  about  his  plans,  so  when  all  were  asleep  he  opened  the  box 
and  taking  the  sun  in  his  beak  was  about  to  fly  out  of  the 
smoke-hole  in  the  roof  (the  name  in  Hidery  parlance  is  kinet), 
when  he  noticed  it  was  closed.  So  he  called  to  some  one  on  the 
roof,  "Ah,  kinet;  ah,  kinet;  open  kinet,  open  kinet."  So  they 
opened  the  smoke-hole  and  he  flew  away  with  the  sun  and  placed 
it  on  high. 

HOW  THE   RAVEN  GOT   FRESH   WATER. 

At  first  and  long  after,  all  the  water  on  the  earth  was  salt,  so 
Yethel,  the  Alaskan  raven  god,  (this  is  a  tale  of  Alaska)  being 


28  TALES  FROM  THE  HIDERY. 

anxious  to  have  streams  of  fresh  water,  and  on  looking  over  the 
world  for  a  supply,  heard  that  Canook  (wolf) ,  who  lived  on  an 
island,  had  all  that  sort  of  water  in  the  world  in  his  house.  So, 
in  order  to  get  a  supply,  he  took  his  canoe  and  sailed  over.  On 
the  way  he  met  Canook  going  home  from  where  he  had  been  fish- 
ing. Together  they  gladly  went  along  until  they  reached  the 
island.  Yethel,  by  invitation  from  Canook,  went  to  pass  the 
night  in  his  house.  This  was  all  he  wanted,  because  he  could 
the  better  get  at  the  water.  In  order  to  prevent  any  one  from 
stealing  the  water,  Canook  used  to  sleep  over  his  well.  Before 
going  to  bed  he  used  to  draw  a  bucket  full  for  family  use.  After 
supper  they  all  went  to  bed,  where  they  lay  and  chatted  until 
Canook  fell  asleep.  After  a  while,  when  Yethel  thought  every 
one  was  asleep,  he  got  up  and  drank  all  the  water.  Just  as  he 
had  finished,  some  of  the  family  awoke  and  seeing  the  empty 
bucket,  called  to  Canook  that  Yethel  had  drunk  all  the  water. 
Hearing  this  and  fearing  Canook,  Yethel  quickly  flew  up  to  the 
smoke-hole  in  order  to  make  his  escape.  Having  drunk  so  much 
water,  he  had  swelled  so  large  that  he  stuck  fast  in  the  smoke- 
hole  and  could  not  get  out  either  way.  Canook,  having  got  up 
and  seeing  the  state  of  affairs,  piled  green  wood  on  the  fire, 
which  made  a  dense  smoke  that  changed  Yethel  from  being  a 
pure  white  bird  to  one  of  a  coal  black  hue.  As  soon  as  Yethel 
got  out  he  flew  over  to  the  main  land,  letting  fall  a  few  drops  of 
water  as  he  passed  along.  Wherever  these  drops  fell,  they 
quickly  sprang  up  rivers,  so  by  means  such  as  these  all  our  rivers 
on  this  coast  had  their  origin.  Having  made  the  rivers,  his  next 
step  was  to  stock  them  with  fish,  particularly  salmon  and 
oulachan. 

ORIGIN   OF   FISH,    HIDERY   VERSION. 

When  Choo-e-ah,  the  raven  god,  was  looking  for  salmon  to 
put  in  the  newly  formed  rivers,  he  Was  informed  Tsing  (beaver) 
had  all  the  salmon,  so  in  order  to  get  a  quantity  he  turned  him- 
self into  a  beautiful  boy  and  went  to  the  beaver's  house.  When 
old  Tsing  saw  a  nice  looking  boy  outside,  he  told  him  to  come 
inside  and  live  with  him  awhile.  This  the  boy  gladly  did.  Very 
soon  he  gained  the  old  beaver's  favor  by  making  himself  gener- 
ally useful.  Whenever  Tsing  went  fishing  he  left  the  boy  at  home, 


THE   RAVEN  GOD.  29 

and  would  neither  tell  him  about  his  salmon  nor  where  he  got 
them.  One  day,  after  a  meal  of  salmon,  the  boy  asked  him 
where  he  got  such  nice  fish.  Tsing  told  him  that  he  had  a  lake 
and  a  river  full  of  them.  Hearing  this,  the  boy  asked  him  for  a 
few,  if  he  could  spare  them,  in  order,  he  said,  to  place  them  in 
the  rivers  and  lakes  on  earth.  "No,"  replied  the  beaver,  "they 
are  exclusively  my  property  and  I  cannot  part  with  any  of  them. ' ' 
Seeing  the  state  of  affairs,  the  boy  said  no  more,  but  awaited  his 
own  time.  After  this  the  boy  was  more  than  ever  attentive  to 
the  wants  and  wishes  of  the  old  chief,  who  after  a  while  took 
him  to  help  while  fishing.  Gradually,  more  and  more,  the  beaver 
got  less  suspicious  of  the  boy  and  finally  would  stay  at  home  and 
send  him.  For  a  long  time  the  boy  would  return  at  evening, 
bringing  a  supply  of  better  fish  than  even  the  beaver  himself 
could  bring.  All  the  while  the  boy  was  collecting  a  goodly  sup- 
ply for  future  use.  So  one  day,  when  all  was  ready,  he  took  the 
fish  he  had  selected  and  left  for  the  new  made  rivers,  in  which 
he  placed  male  and  female  salmon.  These,  in  time,  filled  the 
lakes  and  rivers  and  afterward  afforded  a  supply  of  salmon  for 
mankind.  This  is  how  Ne-kilst-lass  put  the  salmon  in  the  rivers, 
lakes  and  streams.  Having  secured  a  supply  of  salmon,  his  next 
step  was  to  obtain  a  supply  of  oulachans,  with  which  to  fill  cer- 
tain rivers. 

HOW  CAUCH,  THE  RAVEN  GOD,  GOT  OULACHANS. 

This  is  a  tale  of  the  Simshians.  Cauch  knew  that  Settin- 
ki-jess  had  all  this  sort  of  nice  little  fish  and  knew  that  on  no 
account  would  he  part  with  them.  So,  in  order  to  get  them,  he 
made  a  canoe  out  of  an  old  rotten  log  and  started  off  to  overhaul 
the  chief.  One  thing  he  wanted  to  get  was  oulachan  scales  with 
which  to  besmear  his  canoe.  As  Cauch  was  going  along  he  saw 
a  shag.  He  knew  that  that  bird,  as  a  companion  of  this  Settin- 
ki-jess,  had  access  to  his  store  of  oulachans,  and  consequently 
would  have  his  stomach  full.  In  order  to  get  the  shag  to  await 
them  he  contrived  that  the  seagull  and  the  shag  should  quarrel 
by  telling  each  that  the  other  had  spoken  evil  of  him.  At  last 
he  got  them  together,  when,  after  an  angry  conversation,  they 
followed  his  advice  and  began  to  fight.  After  a  while  he  urged 


30  TALES  FROM  THE  HIDERY. 

them  to  fight  harder  and  to  lay  on  their  backs  and  to  kick  out 
with  their  feet.  This  they  did,  and  finally  the  shag  threw  up 
the  oulachans,  which  the  raven  god  immediately  seized.  Having 
got  them  he  rubbed  himself  and  his  old  canoe  with  the  oulachan 
scales,  the  better  to  deceive  the  chief;  then  coming  by  night  to 
the  old  chief's  lodge,  said  that  he  was  very  cold  and  wished  to 
warm  himself,  as  he  had  been  making  a  great  fishery  of  oulachans, 
which  he  had  left  somewhere  not  far  off.  Settin-ki- jess  said  that 
could  not  be  true  as  he  alone  possessed  that  sort  of  fish.  Then 
Cauch  Ne-kilst-lass  invited  him  to  look  at  his  clothes  and  at  his 
canoe.  Finding  both  covered  with  scales,  he  became  convinced 
that  there  were  in  existence  other  oulachans  than  his,  so  in  dis- 
gust he  turned  all  his  stock  loose,  saying,  at  the  same  time,  that 
every  moon  they  would  run  up  certain  streams  and  so  continue 
forever. 

THE  ORIGIN   OF   MANKIND. 

When  Ne-kilst-lass  had  the  world  fitted  up  as  a  fit  abode 
for  a  race  of  beings,  one  day  as  he  was  walking  along  Nai-coon 
(long  nose)  long  and  sandy  beach,  he  found  a  cockle,  with  which 
he  had  sexual  connection.  At  the  end  of  nine  months  he  again 
passed  that  way.  When  he  came  to  the  cockle  he  heard  sounds 
coming  from  it  somewhat  resembling  peep-peep.  This  was  the 
cockle  in  labor,  which  gave  birth  to  six  children,  di  whom  the  god 
was  father.  These  six  partook  of  both  sexes.  From  three  he 
took  away  the  female  principle,  while  from  the  other  three  he 
took  away  the  male,  making  them  male  and  female,  three  of 
each.  In  the  abdomen  of  the  three  females  he  placed  a  sea 
snail.  Having  done  so  he  told  them  that  by  two  of  them 
living  together  as  one  they  would  perpetuate  their  species. 
From  two  of  them,  through  a  long  line  of  ancestors,  the  Hidery 
have  descended.  At  first  the  ijew  made  people  had  long  arms 
and  legs  and  were  consequently  unable  to  walk  upright,  were 
covered  all  over  with  hair,  and  had  no  clothes.  From  such  a 
low  starting  point,  by  always  selecting  the  fittest  to  survive,  the 
finest  looking  as  well  as  the  freest  from  hair,  for  wives  and  hus- 
bands, the  present  race  was  evolved.  After  many  lives  (ages) 
had  passed  and  the  people  had  less  hair  to  cover  them,  the  climate 


THE   RAVEN   GOD.  31 

began  to  get  colder.  Then  the  people  had  to  cover  themselves 
with  skins,  and  to  seek  shelter  in  holes  in  rocks  and  in  the 
ground,  and  finally  to  make  themselves  houses.  It  was  then 
that  the  raven  god,  Ne-kilst-lass,  tried  to  get  them  something  to 
warm  themselves  by.  I  shall  now  give  the  Hidery  version 

OF   HOW  THEY   FIRST   GOT    FIRE. 

Ne-kilst-lass  heard  that  a  great  chief  who  lived  on  an  island 
in  the  Pacific  had  all  the  fire  in  the  world.  So  donning  his  coat 
of  feathers  he  flew  over  to  this  island.  Reaching  the  chief's 
island  he  soon  found  his  house.  After  a  long  conversation  with 
him  about  the  merits  of  his  fire,  Choo-e-ah  seized  a  brand  and  with 
it  flew  over  again  to  the  mainland,  letting  fall,  as  he  passed  along, 
a  few  sparks  amongst  certain  sorts  of  wood  and  stones.  This  sort 
of  wood  and  these  stones  absorbed  all  the  fire  and  gave  it  out 
again,  when  struck  with  a  hard  substance.  The  wood  also  gave 
it  out  when  two  pieces  were  quickly  rubbed  together.  The 
Hidery  say,  when  Choo-e-ah  reached  the  land,  part  of  his  beak  was 
burnt  off. 

YETHEL  THE  RAVEN  GOD  AND  HIS  SALMON  WIFE. 

This  is  a  tale  of  Southern  Alaska.  Our  aborigines,  like 
more  civilized  nations,  made  their  own  gods.  They  first  ascribe 
to  them  good  or  bad  habits  as  suits  their  inclination.  Thus  they 
profess  to  follow  the  example  set  by  them,  whence  the  remark 
of  the  Thlingat  of  Southern  Alaska, ' '  As  Yethel  was  so  are  we. ' ' 
Being  very  fond  of  games  of  chance,  they  say  they  are  so  because 
Yethel  set  them  an  example  and  quote  the  following  story  of 
Yethel,  the  stump,  and  his  salmon  wife.  Yethel,  they  say  was 
very  fond  of  gambling;  long  ago  he  had  a  great  game  with  a 
stump,  which  beat  him  so  badly  that  he  lost  every  thing  he  had. 
At  that  time  he  had  a  salmon  for  his  wife.  Now  this  wife  had 
been  very  busy  during  the  summer  season  drying  salmon  and 
packing  them  away  for  winter  use,  until  she  had  a  large  number 
of  boxes  stowed  away.  When  Yethel  found  the  stump  had  got 
everything  he  had,  he  became  so  angry  that  he  went  home  and  beat 
his  wife  most  unmercifully.  This  was  too  much  for  her,  so  out  of 
revenge  she  restored  all  her  kindred,  the  dry  salmon  in  the  boxes, 
who  along  with  her  ran  into  the  river  and  away,  leaving  Yethel  in 
poverty. 


32  TALES   FROM   THE  HIDERY. 

THE   STORY   OP  YETHEL  AND   A   FLOOD. 

The  Thlingat  of  Alaska,  have  the  following  story  of  a  great 
flood.  During  the  course  of  ages,  existing  conditions  in  course 
of  development  brought  on  a  flood  of  water  which  covered  the 
whole  earth  and  destroyed  all  the  people  but  a  few  who  were 
saved  by  fleeing  in  their  canoes  to  a  very  high  mountain,  where 
they  lived  until  the  waters  left.  Yethel  saved  himself  by  stick- 
ing his  beak  into  a  cloud  and  so  held  on  until  the  waters  left. 
When  they  left  he  fled  down  to  earth  and  joined  the  remnant 
who  were  saved.  They  had  left  the  mountain  in  search  of  their 
old  homes.  Arriving  where  they  thought  they  once  lived,  they 
found  all  changed.  Being  few  in  number  they  were  disheartened 
and  felt  badly  the  loss  of  their  relatives.  Yethel  seeing  their  de- 
spondency told  them  to  cheer  up.  He  had  come  to  help  them, 
and  if  they  would  do  as  he  told  them  they  would  soon  have  plenty 
of  companions.  "Gather,"  he  said,  "everyone,  in  front  of  you 
a  pile  of  stones,  then  throw  them  over  your  heads  backward  and 
await  the  result."  This  they  all  gladly  did,  and  as  soon  as  these 
stones  touched  the  ground  they  jumped  up  men  and  women. 
Thus  they  soon  had  plenty  of  companions  and  the  world  was  re- 
populated. 

I  shall  now  give  a  raven  story  of  another  sort.  It  is  from  the 
Hidery  and  is  a  very  old  story.  I  have  been  creditably  informed 
that  the  Japanese  have  long  had  a  story  of  the  same  sort,  and  it 
is  well  known  that  more  than  once  an  island  has  been  found  in 
the  South  Pacific,  on  which  there  were  only  disconsolate  women; 
all  the  men  had  been  killed. 

HOW  THE  RAVEN  GOD  HELPED  THE  WOMEN. 

Long  ago,  on  an  island,  far  away  on  the  big  sea  (Pacific) 
were  a  lot  of  women;  all  the  men  had  been  killed  in  war  or  taken 
away  by  some  other  means,  of  v/hich  there  is  no  traditional  rec- 
ord. The  poor  women  missed  the  companionship  of  the  other 
sex  so  much  that  they  were  utterly  broken-hearted.  In  their 
lonely  condition,  an  earnest,  sincere  and  heart-felt  desire  for  help 
went  up  to  the  raven  god,  who  out  of  pity  for  them,  picked  up  a 
young  man  and  flew  over  to  the  island  with  him,  and  left  him 
with  the  women. 


FEAST  OF  THE   RAVEN    GOD.  33 

The  Alaskans  have  often  told  me  while  collecting  Folk  Tales 
amongst  them,  speaking  of  the  raven  god,  "So  much  can  be 
told  about  Yethel  and  his  deeds  that  no  man  can  tell  them  all." 
I,  myself,  am  much  in  the  same  box.  I  know  so  much  about 
Yethel  that  I  feel  I  must  give  another  story  before  I  take  up  the 
eagle  phratry.  The  one  I  am  about  to  give  is  a  tradition  of  the 
Queen  Charlotte  Island  Hidery,  and  is  as  follows : 

THE   FEAST  OF  THE   RAVEN   GOD,    NE-KILST-LASS. 

Long  ago,  Ne-kilst-lass,  wishing  to  give  a  great  feast  to  all 
the  people  of  earth,  took  a  trusty  bow,  with  quiver  full  of  arrows, 
in  order  to  provide  a  goodly  supply  of  food  for  his  future  guests. 
After  hunting  over  hill  and  dale,  by  lake,  river  and  stream,  he 
obtained  a  supply,  which  he  set  about  to  prepare  for  his  guests. 
When  all  was  ready,  he  invited  his  guests  in  a  very  peculiar 
manner,  as  follows :  Turning  to  the  east,  he  stamped  his  foot  on 
the  ground.  No  sooner  had  he  done  so,  than  a  large  number  of 
people  of  a  different  language  and  color  from  those  around,  came 
in  their  canoes.  These  he  welcomed  to  the  feast.  Then  turn- 
ing to  the  north,  he  again  stamped  his  foot,  with  like  results. 
This  time  a  people  different  from  all  others  in  language  and  color 
arrived  in  their  canoes ;  they  also  were  welcomed  to  the  feast. 
After  their  arrival  he  turned  to  the  west  and  stamped  on  the 
ground,  with  the  same  results.  Turning  to  the  south,  his  stamp 
brought  a  fourth  people  in  their  canoes.  These,  also,  were  a 
different  people,  distinct  in  language  and  color.  When  all  these 
various  peoples  or  nationalities  had  arrived,  the  feast  proceeded. 
After  several  days  of  feasting,  dancing  and  singing,  all  the  pro- 
visions being  exhausted,  and  every  one  having  received  a  pres- 
ent, this  motley  group  left  for  their  several  homes. 

The  above  story,  it  needs  to  be  remarked,  is  not  a  totem  tale. 
It  is  an  ancient  allegory  of  man's  life  on  earth,  and  may  be  ex- 
plained as  follows  :  When  the  raven  god  Ne-kilst-lass  had  the 
feast  ready,  that  is,  this  world  fitted  up  and  supplied  with  pro- 
visions of  all  sorts  fit  for  food  for  the  use  of  mankind,  he  invited 
to  a  feast,  that  is,  to  earth  life,  four  races  of  mankind,  of  four 
different  colors,  of  four  different  nations  and  languages ;  that  is, 
red  or  brown,  white,  black  and  yellow.  I  have  never  yet  been 


34  TALES  FROM  THE  HIDERY. 

able  to  find  which  came  from  the  east,  or  which  from  the  north, 
or  any  other  quarter  ;  but  whether  yellow,  white  or  black,  they 
came  and  had  their  share  of  the  feast,  that  is,  this  life,  and  its 
good  and  evil,  joys  and  sorrows.  When  the  feast,  this  life,  was 
over,  all  left  for  their  own  homes,  that  is,  their  life  after  leaving 
this  world.  So,  as  an  allegory,  this  is  very  good.  With  it  I 
finish  the  raven  and  take  up  the  eagle. 

THE   STORY   OF  THE  EAGLE. 

Like  the  raven,  the  eagle  is  a  phratry  or  brotherhood,  and 
has  fourteen  representative  crests,  namely  :  eagle,  raven,  frog, 
beaver,  shark,  moon,  duck,  codfish,  wasco,  whale,  owl,  dog- 
fish, dragon-fly,  and  sometimes  the  sculpin.  With  some  tribes 
the  eagle  is  the  highest;  with  others,  the  raven.  Like  the 
raven,  the  eagle  is  often  placed  on  top  of  the  mortuary  columns, 
with  the  difference  that  the  beak  of  the  eagle  is  always  turned  to 
the  right,  with  the  exception  when  it  is  shown  as  slachan  or 
phratry  ;  otherwise,  its  beak  is  straight.  As  a  reason  for  its  beak 
being  twisted,  the  Hidery  tell  the  following  story  :  "One  day  the 
eagle  was  out  walking  with  his  first  cousin,  the  raven,  when  the 
eagle  said  to  him  :  'How  is  it  that  you  have  given  something 
good  to  all  the  inhabitants  of  earth,  while  to  me,  your  cousin, 
you  have  given  no  thins:?'  'I  will  give  you  something ;  come 
here.'  So  the  raven  took  hold  of  his  beak  and  twisted  it  to  the 
right,  saying,  'I  make  you  a  slachan,  and  as  such  I  have  given 
you  a  mark  to  be  known  by.'  "  The  Hidery  also  say  the  eagle 
is  a  fool  and  a  simpleton,  and  as  a  proof  of  this  assertion,  quote 
the  following  :  "One  time  the  eagle  had  a  nice  lot  of  eatables 
in  his  house,  while  the  raven  had  nothing  good  at  all ;  so,  in 
order  to  get  at  the  eagle's  store,  the  raven  sent  him  a  long  way 
off  on  a  fool's  errand.  During  his  absence  the  raven  turned  to 
and  ate  up  all  he  could  fina,  leaving  the  poor  eagle  a  bare 
cupboard. ' ' 

I  shall  now  give  the  story  of  the  eagle  as  it  is  shown  on  the 
totem  pole  of  the  house  of  the  eagles  in  the  miniature  village. 

The  name  of  the  house  is  coot-nass,  eagles'  house.  On  the 
totem  pole  are  two  divisions;  the  husband's  occupies  the  lower 
half,  while  the  wife's  is  the  upper  half.  The  husband  was  a  bear 


STORY   OF  THE  EAGLE.  35 

of  the  raven  phratry,  as  is  shown  on  the  post.  His  wife  was  an 
eagle  of  the  eagle  phratry.  The  figures  carved  on  the  column 
connected  with  the  story  are,  first  (reading  up):  An  object  with  a 
head  somewhat  like  a  seal.  This  is  Ah-seak  mentioned  in 
the  story.  Above  that  are  the  eagles  (including  the  king)  men- 
tioned in  the  story.  The  scene  of  the  story  is  laid  in  the  south- 
ern part  of  Queen  Charlotte  Island,  British  Columbia,  and  is  in 
the  Skiddance  country,  of  which  Captain  Skiddance  is  chief,  the 
country  and  village  being  named  after  its  chief.  The  Hidery, 
when  speaking  of  a  great  chief,  always  call  him  king  instead 
of  chief. 

THE   STORY. 

L,ong  ago  a  king  lived  in  Skiddance 's  country,  who  had  a 
sister  and  her  family  living  along  with  him.  Tradition  does  not 
give  the  number  of  her  family,  but  only  mentions  one  boy,  the 
hero  of  this  story.  This  boy  was  displeasing  to  his  uncle,  who 
made  the  child's  life  so  miserable  that  he  decided  to  leave  the  house 
forever.  The  uncle  intercepted  his  plan  by  turning  him  out  of 
doors.  After  wandering  about  a  while,  he  was  found  by  three 
women,  one  of  them  being  ahead  of  the  others.  One  of  them,  the 
first  to  find  him,  was  the  daughter  of  a  king,  the  king  of  the  eagles. 
Seeing  him  so  sorrowful  and  woe-begone,  she  asked  what  ailed 
him.  He  told  her  all  his  troubles.  Hearing  them,  she  said, 
"Come  with  me  to  my  father's  house."  She  then  took  him  into 
the  timber.  They  had  not  gone  far  until  they  found  a  town,  up 
on  a  tree.  This  was  the  eagles'  town.  A  large  number  of  eagles 
were  flying  about,  who  lived  in  this  town.  She  took  the  boy 
home  with  her  and  made  him  comfortable.  After  awhile  she  pre- 
sented him  to  her  father,  the  king,  saying,  "Father,  I  have 
found  a  nice  husband."  The  old  man  was  highly  pleased  to  see 
such  a  nice  looking  son-in-law.  The  boy,  as  I  shall  still  call 
him,  soon  gained  the  old  man's  favor  by  doing  many  little  things 
for  him.  If  he  wished  for  anything,  off  he  went  and  got  it  for 
him,  as  the  following  will  show.  One  day  the  old  king  said  he 
would  like  to  get  a  piece  of  whale's  flesh.  As  soon  as  he  said  so, 
the  boy  dressed  himself  with  a  suit  of  the  old  king's  feathers,  and 
flew  seaward  until  he  found  a  number  of  whales.  Off  one  he  cut 


36  TALES   FROM  THE   HIDERY. 

a  piece  and  returned.  This  promptness  pleased  the  old  king 
greatly.  After  this  the  boy  was  so  much  pleased  at  being  able  to 
fly,  that  he  was  not  contented  unless  he  was  always  on  the  wing, 
and  wished  to  have  a  suit  of  feathers  for  himself.  So,  in  order 
to  obtain  his  wish,  he  and  his  wife  agreed  to  ask  the  old  man. 
This  they  did.  When  he  heard  their  request,  he  readily  con- 
sented and  without  delay  went  to  a  box  from  which  he  took  feath- 
ers enough  to  make  the  boy  a  full-fledged  eagle.  Some  time  after- 
wards, the  old  king,  wishing  to  get  some  more  whale  meat,  asked 
the  boy  if  he  would  go  and  get  it.  Hearing  this,  the  boy 
dressed  himself  in  his  new  suit  and  left,  returning  in  a  short 
time  with  a  whole  whale.  While  off  catching  the  fish,  he  saw 
so  many  everywhere  that  he  spent  the  whole  of  his  time  flying 
about  amongst  them,  leaving  early  and  only  returning  after 
night-fall.  Seeing  his  fondness  for  catching  and  flying  about 
among  the  whales,  the  old  king  told  him,  if,  while  flying  about 
he  ever  came  across  Ah-seak,  above  mentioned,  he  was  not 
to  take  hold  of  it,  nor  even  touch  it,  because  it  would  do  him  no 
good.  Some  time  after,  while  flying  around  and  not  thinking  of 
Ah-seak,  he  saw  a  strange  looking  object  floating  about.  In 
order  to  see  what  it  was,  he  flew  down  and  took  hold  of  it.  As 
he  did  so,  it  took  hold  of  his  hand  and  pulled  him  down  under 
the  water  and  held  him  so  that  he  was  unable  to  get  up,  one  arm 
alone  being  held  above  water,  and  remained  so.  Next  day,  see- 
ing he  did  not  return,  all  the  young  eagles  went  to  look  for  him. 
After  flying  about  over  hill  and  dale  without  finding  him,  they 
thought  of  Ah-seak.  When  they  reached  its  place  and  saw 
the  upheld  hand,  wondering  what  it  could  be,  one  after  the 
other  took  hold  of  it,  in  order  to  pull  it  out.  As  fast  as  they 
did  so,  they,  too,  one  by  one,  went  under,  until  not  one  was  left, 
the  arm  of  the  last  one  beirg  held  above  the  water,  they  all 
forming  a  line  below.  Seeing  that  neither  the  boy  nor  any 
of  her  family  returned,  the  old  mother  eagle,  the  queen,  sus- 
pecting something  wrong,  went  to  seek  for  them.  When  she 
came  to  the  place  where  Ah-seak  lived  and  saw  the  upheld  arm, 
she  knew  at  once  what  was  wrong.  In  her  case,  Ah-seak  had  no 
power.  She  could  take  hold  with  all  freedom  of  the  upheld  hand, 
and  doing  so,  she  pulled  them  all  out  as  they  went  in,  the  boy 


THE  SUN  TOTEM.  37 

last.  At  the  same  time,  making  a  few  passes  over  them  with  her 
hand,  she  restored  them  all.  Having  made  them  all  well  and 
strong,  she  said,  "What  are  you  all  doing  here?  Go  home  and 
never  be  seen  here  again."  This  they  all  did,  a  wiser  and  a  hap- 
pier lot.  Ah-seak  seems  to  have  been  a  sort  of  octopus,  or  devil- 
fish. 

THE  SUN   TOTEM   AND   ITS   STORY. 

The  sun,  like  the  moon  crest  or  totem,  belongs  to  the  raven 
phratry  or  brotherhood.  Of  the  two  crests,  the  sun  ranks  high- 
est. It  is  generally  painted  as  a  face  with  points  or  rays  around 
it.  Amongst  the  Hidery  tribes  the  sun  and  moon  are  painted 
much  alike.  The  sun  totem  never  had  so  many  representatives 
in  Hidery  land  as  among  the  main-land  tribes,  from  whom  the 
Hidery  seem  to  have  adopted  it  with  all  its  stories.  When  shown 
on  the  totem  poles,  in  front  of  the  Haida  houses,  it  generally 
represents  the  sign  of  their  raven  god  Choo-e-ah  or  Ne-kilst- 
lass,  who  got  the  box  containing  the  sun  from  the  old  chief  Settin- 
ki-jess,  from  whence  he  put  it  in  the  heavens.  On  the  totem 
posts  it  shows  that  either  the  man  who  built  the  house  or  his  wife 
and  family  belonged  to,  or  were  connected  with,  the  sun  crest. 
Not  only  was  the  sun  a  crest,  but  to  a  certain  extent  they  used 
to  offer  prayer  to  it.  A  sample  which  I  give  is  a  prayer  in  wet 
weather:  "Oh,  thou  good  Sun,  look  down  upon  us.  Shine  on 
us,  oh  Sun.  Take  away  the  dark  clouds  that  the  rains  may 
cease  to  fall,  because  we  want  to  go  a  fishing  (or  hunting,  as  the 
case  may  be).  L,ook  kindly  on  us,  oh  Sun;  grant  us  peace  in 
our  midst,  as  well  as  with  our  enemies.  Again  we  ask,  hear  us, 
oh  Sun!" 

This  is  from  the  Simsheans,  on  the  Skeena.  I  had  it  from 
Mr.  George  Cunningham,  of  Port  Essington,  on  the  above  river. 
I  have  given  it  as  near  to  the  original  as  I  can  remember. 

THE   DAUGHTER   OF  THE  SUN. 

Far  down  in  the  dim  and  distant  past,  in  this  part  of  the 
world,  lived  two  brothers,  who  both  about  the  same  time  took  to 
themselves  wives.  In  due  season  these  wives  presented  to  each 
of  their  husbands  a  baby,  to  the  one  a  boy  and  to  the  other  a  girl. 
The  names  of  each  I  never  could  learn.  As  suiting  the  dis- 


38  TALES  FROM  THE  HIDERY. 

position  of  each,  the  boy  I  shall  name  Sun  Cloud  and  the  girl 
I  shall  name  Snow  Flower.  The  boy,  always  plain,  grew  more 
so  as  years  passed  over  him,  until  he  came  to  be  considered  the 
plainest  person  in  the  village.  Although  endowed  by  nature 
with  little  facial  beauty,  he  was  of  a  loving,  kind  and  gentle  dis- 
position, ever  ready  to  help  the  needy,  or  to  say  a  kind  word  to 
the  down-hearted  ;  in  fact,  his  was  a  noble  soul  within  a  rough 
exterior.  A  dark  and  dreary  storm  cloud  may  hide  the  face  of 
the  sun,  yet  withal,  he  shines  behind  it  in  all  his  wonted  splen- 
dor ;  such  his  name,  Sun  Cloud,  implies.  The  girl,  always  fair 
of  face,  grew  fairer  every  year,  and  when  she  reached  her  teens 
was  considered  the  prettiest  maiden  in  the  village.  Soon  she  had 
plenty  of  admirers  and  flatterers,  who  told  her,  a  willing  listener, 
that  she  deserved  the  handsomest  as  well  as  the  richest  man  in 
the  village  for  her  husband,  and  if  they  were  as  pretty  as 
she  was,  they  knew  whom  they  would  have.  Many  a  good  look- 
ing young  fellow  sought  her  company,  in  order  to  be  able  to 
boast  that  he  had  walked  or  sailed  with  the  prettiest  girl  in  the 
whole  village.  With  all  her  beauty,  she  sadly  lacked  the  better 
qualities  of  her  noble-minded  cousin;  she  was  cold-hearted,  co- 
quettish and  proud.  Those  who  knew  her  best  said,  "She  was 
as  beautiful  as  a  mountain  flower  and  as  cold  as  the  snow  bank 
behind  which  it  bloomed," — whence  her  name,  Snow  Flower. 
These  two  cousins,  living  near  each  other  in  the  village,  were 
often  in  company.  While  out  together  fishing,  she  would  steer 
from  place  to  place,  while  he  watched  the  lines.  Again  in  the 
berry  season,  they  would  often  spend  days  in  each  other's  com- 
pany, gathering  a  stock  of  wild  fruits.  In  those  days  no  thoughts 
passed  between  them  but  those  of  friendship.  By  and  by,  a  time 
came  when  Sun  Cloud,  following  the  natural  bent  of  mankind, 
cast  about  him  for  a  wife.  For  a  long  time  he  had  a  kindly  feel- 
ing toward  his  fair  but  fickle  cousin.  Something  he  had,  scarcely 
could  he  tell  what  it  was,  that  made  him  feel  better  while  in  her 
company,  and  sad  in  her  absence.  At  last  a  time  came  when  he 
revealed  to  her  his  feelings  and  asked  her  to  become  his  wife. 
She  looked  at  him  and  replied  she  was  too  young  yet  to  think  of 
marriage.  Hearing  her  say  so  only  served  to  make  him  press  his 
suit  with  more  earnestness  and  candor.  Finding  that  amongst 


THE  DAUGHTER  OF  THE  SUN.  39 

the  number  of  her  admirers  she  had  one,  at  least,  who  was  serious, 
in  order  to  annoy  the  others,  she  very  foolishly  led  him  to  under- 
stand that  she  loved  him  more  than  all  the  others,  while,  in  fact, 
she  did  not  care  much  for  any  of  them.  Her  ambition  led  her  to 
have  lots  of  beaux,  in  order  to  make  other  girls  jealous  of  her. 
With  this  assurance  of  her  favor,  Sun  Cloud  pressed  her  to  name 
the  day  when  he  could  claim  her  as  his  bride  and  so  be  happy, 
because  without  her  he  could  never  be  anything  but  miserable. 
Thinking  to  tire  him  out  of  his  love  making  for  her,  she  tried 
the  following  game  :  Finding  he  was  ever  ready  to  do  anything 
for  her,  or  to  go  anywhere,  however  far  it  might  be,  to  get  her 
anything  she  wished,  she  would  ask  him  to  go  to  such  and  such 
a  place  for  her,  telling  him  each  time  he  went  that  when  he  re- 
turned she  would  try  and  let  him  know  when  she  would  be  ready 
to  marry  him  according  to  promise.  When  he  returned  and  re- 
minded her  of  what  was  said  before  he  left  on  her  message,  she 
only  laughed  and  said  she  made  it  only  to  try  him.  Also,  she 
would  ask  him  to  do  many  things,  with  the  same  promises. 
When  done,  every  one  had  the  same  results.  One  day,  return- 
ing from  a  long  journey  on  her  behalf,  being  tired  and  hungry 
and  doubtless  not  in  a  cheerful  mood  when  she  told  him  she  was 
not  ready  ,  "What  do  you  mean?"  he  asked  her.  "I  now  see 
you  are  only  fooling  rne ;  it  is  very  unfair  of  you  to  serve  me  so. 
You  ought  to  be  ashamed  of  yourself  to  use  me  so."  "One  thing 
more,  "  she  said,  "I  shall  ask  you  to  do  for  me;  if  you  do  it,  I 
shall  then  know  that  you  truly  and  sincerely  love  me.  This  once, 
and  I  shall  ask  of  you  no  more ;  so,  when  it  is  done,  come  and 
claim  your  reward.-  My  request  is  this,  cut  your  hair  short.  If 
you  do  not  do  it,  let  me  see  you  no  more.  Go  and  think  over  it." 
Here  let  me  pause  a  while  in  the  course  of  my  story,  in  order 
to  say  a  few  words  by  way  of  explanation.  Until  recent  times 
these  people  kept  slaves,  which  they  acquired  by  warfare  and  by 
purchase.  In  order  to  distinguish  these  from  free  men  and 
women,  their  hair  was  cut  short  and  kept  so  as  a  mark  of  subjec- 
tion. A  free  man  or  woman  by  having  the  hair  cut  short,  not 
only  lost  caste  and  became  on  a  level  with  the  slaves,  but  could 
not  re-enter  their  own  caste  until  again  their  hair  was  long.  By 
making  this  request  of  him,  no  doubt  Sun  Flower  firmly  be- 


4O  TALES  FROM  THE   HIDERY. 

lieved  he  would  not  on  any  account  do  such  a  thing,  even  if  his 
expressions  of  love  were  true.  Then  if  he  failed  to  do  so,  she 
would  consider  herself  clear  of  him.  No  doubt,  when  Sun 
Cloud  heard  this  last  request,  he  had  a  hard  struggle  within  him- 
self, a  struggle  between  true  love  and  dishonor. 

Reaching  home,  true  love  prevailed.  He  went  to  a  friend's 
house  and  had  a  close  cut.  Afterward  hoping  all  would  be  well  he 
went  over  to  her  house,  in  order  to  claim  his  reward.  As  soon 
as  she  saw  what  he  had  done  for  her  love,  she  said,  "  You  fool, 
do  you  think  I  would  wed  a  slave  ?  No,  never.  Go,  and  let  me 
see  you  no  more;  when  I  wish  to  marry  it  will  be  with  a  free  man 
and  not  with  a  slave. ' '  With  these  remarks,  she  turned  and  left 
him  disdainfully.  This  was  a  death  blow  to  his  long  cherished 
hopes.  It  was  more  than  he  could  bear.  So,  sad  and  sorrowful 
he  turned  away  and  wandered  onward  he  knew  not  whither, 
without  resting  or  sleeping.  Life  at  length  became  to  him  a 
burden,  which  led  him  to  wish  for  a  lonely  place  where,  unknown 
and  unseen,  he  could  lay  down  and  die.  Wandering  thus  aim- 
lessly about,  he  at  length  came  to  a  house.  Unwilling  to  be  seen, 
he  was  passing  quietly  by  when  a  kindly  looking  woman  came 
out.  Seeing  him  so  sorrowful  and  so  woe  begone,  she  told  him 
to  come  inside  and  rest  awhile,  which  after  a  deal  of  pleading  on 
her  part,  he  consented  to  do  and  went  inside.  In  answer  to  her 
question  of  what  was  the  matter  with  him,  he  told  her  all,  from  first 
to  last.  When  he  had  finished  a  recital  of  his  troubles,  she  ad- 
dressed him  thus  :  ' '  Before  you  came  hither  I  knew  all  about 
you  and  your  troubles;  you  have  told  me  all  and  kept  nothing 
back.  Had  you  kept  any  of  it  you  might  have  fared  worse.  As 
a  reward  for  your  many  hardships,  you  before  long  shall  get  the 
best  wife,  as  well  as  the  prettiest  in  the  land.  Your  wife  shall 
be  the  daughter  of  the  Sun.  Before  you  leave  this  house,  you 
must  rest  and  have  some  food,  /after  which  I  will  show  you  the 
way  to  where  she  lives."  When  he  was  ready  to  depart,  she 
went  outside  with  him  and  showed  him  a  narrow  way  leading 
straight  onward  from  her  house.  "  You  must,"  she  said,  "follow 
this  pathway,  turning  neither  to  right  nor  to  left  until  you  reach 
an  exceedingly  high  mountain,  up  to  the  top  of  which  you  must 
climb  regardless  of  every  difficult  place  you  may  find  in  your 


THE   DAUGHTER    OF  THE  SUN.  4! 

way.  Always  look  onward  and  upward,  never  look  back.  When 
you  gain  the  top  you  will  find  the  path  still  leading  onward. 
Follow  it  until  you  reach  a  large  and  beautiful  palace.  If  you 
do  not  see  any  one,  knock  and  some  one  will  come,  who  will  in- 
quire what  you  want.  When  they  come,  tell  them  that  the  old 
woman  who  lives  beyond  the  mountain,  sent  you  to  marry  the 
daughter  of  the  Sun,  and  remember  her  only  you  must  choose. 
These  are  ray  instructions;  you  know  the  way;  farewell."  With 
a  light  heart  Sun  Cloud  pursued  his  course  along  the  narrow 
path  way  until  he  reached  the  mountain.  Looking  upward  along 
its  steep  and  craggy  side,  his  heart  failed  him.  After  resting 
awhile,  he  thought,  if  I  try  and  get  to  the  top  I  shall  be  well  re- 
warded for  all  my  misfortunes.  If  I  lose  heart  and  return  I  shall 
be  worse  of  than  ever  before.  I  shall  try,  I  will  never  look  back 
until  I  gain  the  top.  So  thinking  of  nothing  but  onward  and 
upward  he  finally,  after  a  deal  of  climbing,  reached  the  top. 

Here  we  leave  him  to  rest  awhile  and  look  ahead.  From 
the  top  of  the  mountain,  where  he  sits  is  another  pathway  lead- 
ing to  a  large  and  beautiful  mansion  in  the  distance.  This  is 
the  palace  of  the  Sun,  to  which  our  hero  is  bent;  on  it  his  hopes 
are  centered.  In  it  he  will  find  the  fair  one,  he  has  come  so  far 
to  meet,  the  daughter  of  the  Sun. 

Being  rested  and  fresh  he  again  started  on  his  travels, 
happy  in  the  thought  of  being  so  near  the  end  of  his  journey. 
His  expectation  seemed  to  lend  swiftness  to  his  feet  for  in  a 
little  while  he  reached  the  palace.  While  seated  on  the  moun- 
tain, he  was  dazzled  by  the  distant  refulgence  of  its  build- 
ings. Looking  around,  he  saw  no  one,  and  everything  being  so 
beautiful,  he  was  afraid  to  knock;  after  awhile  he  mustered  cour- 
age and  knocked.  In  answer  to  his  call  a  man  came,  who  asked 
him  what  he  wanted.  After  delivering  his  message,  the  man 
opened  the  gate  and  made  him  welcome.  After  remaining  a  few 
days,  during  which  he  related  to  them  all  his  misfortunes,  telling 
them  of  the  false  promises  of  the  girl  he  loved  so  well,  how  on 
her  account  he  left  home  and  friends,  how  he  wandered  aimlessly 
about  until  he  arrived  at  the  woman's  house,  where  he  was  kind- 
ly cared  for  and  directed  on  his  way  to  this  place,  where  he  was 
to  be  provided  with  a  better  wife  than  if  he  had  married  his  first 


42  TALES  FROM  THE  HIDERY. 

love.  After  hearing  his  pitiable  story,  they  said  they  could  help 
him  in  his  search  for  a  good  wife.  So  saying,  they  sent  and 
called  the  daughter  of  the  Stars,  a  pretty  little  maiden  with  bright 
twinkling  eyes.  In  answer  to  the  question  of  how  he  would  like 
her  for  his  wife,  he  replied,  "  She,  no  doubt,  is  as  good  as  she  is 
pretty,  yet,  some  how  I  feel  she  is  not  the  one  I  came  so  far  to 
get."  So  they  sent  her  back  and  called  the  daughter  of  the  Moon, 
who  came  and  stood  before  him  in  all  the  splendour  of  her  cold 
radiant  beauty.  Gazing  at  her  for  some  time  in  silent  admira- 
tion, he  at  last  said:  "She  seems  so  pretty  and  yet  so  cold  that  I 
feel  she  is  not  for  me."  So  they  sent  her  away  and  in  her  stead 
brought  the  brightest  and  best  of  all,  the  daughter  of  the  Sun. 
When  she  came  our  hero  was  so  dazzled  with  her  beauty  that  he 
was  unable  to  look  on  her  for  a  long  while.  At  length  taking 
her  by  the  hand,  he  said  :  "  Thou  daughter  of  the  Sun!  much 
have  I  suffered  and  far  have  I  come  to  meet  thee.  Now  that  I 
have  found  you  I  am  like  a  new  man.  In  fact,  I  consider  myself 
well  repaid  for  all  my  past  sorrows  and  troubles,  in  as  much  as  I 
have  found  such  a  wife."  After  awhile  they  together  paid  a  visit 
to  his  relatives  at  the  home  of  his  childhood.  All  were  glad  to 
see  them  and  to  welcome  them  home.  Soon  every  one  in  the 
village  was  enchanted  by  the  lady's  loveliness  and  also  by  her  kind- 
liness of  disposition.  To  the  sick  her  presence  had  a  healing  vir- 
tue, which  soon  restored  them  to  health  and  strength.  When 
the  sorrows  of  the  heart  sought  relief  by  a  flood  of  tears,  her 
kindly  smile  cheered  the  heart  and  dried  the  tears.  Loved  and 
respected  by  all  the  people,  they  lived  happily  together  until  a 
ripe  old  age,  while  a  long  line  of  their  descendants  call  them- 
selves the  children  of  the  good  daughter  of  the  Sun.  As  for  Snow 
Flower,  when  years  with  lengthening  numbers  passed  along  her 
pathway,  leaving  her  but  little  of  her  original  beauty  and  having 
nothing  better  to  offer,  no  one  Denied  to  care  for  her,  which  led 
her  sadly  to  regret  the  lost  chances  of  bygone  days.  Soon  she 
was  glad  to  take  for  a  husband  one  whom  all  the  girls  had  re- 
fused. She  also  became  comparatively  unknown,  whereas  her 
cousin  with  better  qualities  and  his  estimable  wife  soon  became 
a  power  in  the  land. 


THE   MOON  STORY.  43 

THE   MOON   CREST   AND   ITS   STORY. 

The  moon  as  well  as  the  sun  crest  belongs  to  the  raven 
phratry  or  brotherhood.  The  moon  crest  is  found  in  every 
village  of  the  Hidery,  as  well  as  amongst  other  tribes  in  Alaska 
and  British  Columbia.  In  this  paper  I  shall  speak  of  the  moon 
crest  and  its  story.  This  story  seems  to  have  been  taken  from 
the  ancient  mythology  of  these  people,  showing  at  the  same  time 
the  connection  of  the  family,  wholly  or  singly,  with  the  moon 
crest.  A  house  without  a  totem  pole  in  front  and  in  its  place  a 
painting  of  the  moon  in  a  very  conspicuous  part  of  the  building, 
shows  this  house  belongs  to  a  person  or  a  family  belonging  to 
the  moon  crest  or  totem.  In  the  model  village  at  the  Chicago 
World's  Fair,  house  No.  2,  or  the  first  painted  house,  was  a  minia- 
ture representation  of  the  house  in  the  village  of  Skidegat  in 
which  Captain  Gold,  chief  of  the  moon  crest, lived  as  late  as  1894. 
On  the  front  of  this  house,  which  is  really  the  southern  end  of 
it,  are  painted  the  following:  First,  on  top  is  a  painting  in  a 
bluish  color  of  a  moon  with  a  large  hook  nose.  Under  the 
moon,  if  I  remember  right,  is  a  raven,  also  a  man  or  two  shown 
as  if  they  were  falling.  The  moon  and  all  the  figures  repre- 
sented on  this  house  are  parts  of  the  following  story: 

THE   MOON  STORY. 

The  several  parts  of  this  story  are  rather  disconnected 
owing  to  its  being  adopted  by  the  Hidery,  from  whom  I  had  it. 
I  shall  endeavor  to  give  it  in  a  readable  form,  keeping  as  near  as 
possible  to  the  original. 

In  by-gone  ages  a  large  town  stood,  either  on  the  site  of  the 
present  Port  Simshean,  an  Indian  town  in  Northern  British 
Columbia,  or  somewhere  near  to  it.  This  town  at  one  time  had 
a  large  population  which,  at  the  time  of  the  opening  of  my 
story,  was  visited  by  a  sickness  so  deadly  that  out  of  this  large 
population  only  one  solitary  being,  a  woman,  was  left.  The 
woman  was  sad  and  lonely,  sad  for  the  loss  of  her  relatives  and 
lonely  because,  in  this  plague-stricken  town,  she  had  no  com- 
panions left.  In  order  to  see  if  there  might  not  be  a  few  still 
left  she  went  from  house  to  house  with  still  the  same  results  — 
dead,  everywhere  she  went  they  were  dead.  With  failing  hopes 


44  TALES  FROM  THE  HIDERY. 

she  pursued  her  ghastly  search  until  wearied  nature  demanded 
rest.  She  lay  down  and  quickly  dropped  asleep.  How  long  she 
slept  she  did  not  know.  When  she  awoke  it  was  bright  day.  As 
soon  as  she  opened  her  eyes,  she  began  to  think  seriously  what 
would  become  of  her,  or  what  wrould  she  do.  While  engaged  in 
this  train  of  thought,  a  stranger,  a  man,  suddenly  appeared 
before  her.  At  first  she  was  surprised  and  somewhat  afraid.  At 
length  she  mustered  courage  enough  to  speak,  saying:  "I 
thought  no  one  was  here.  Where  did  you  come  from?" 
"Above,"  replied  the  man.  "I  came  from  the  moon;  I  have 
been  sent  here  to  bear  you  company. ' '  For  a  long  while  these 
two  were  the  only  people  in  town.  As  no  one  cared  to  come  near, 
or  to  make  their  abode  in  town,  they  agreed  to  get  married, 
then  go  to  the  man's  home  in  the  moon.  This  they  did.  Shortly 
after  making  their  abode  in  the  moon,  the  woman  gave  birth  to  a 
son,  whose  father  was  the  man  to  whom  she  was  married.  Before 
going  further  I  must  say,  by  way  of  explanation,  that  the  big 
nose  and  the  blue  on  the  moon,  seem  to  denote  rank  in  con- 
nection with  the  moon  totem.  After  the  birth  of  the  child,  the 
big  nose  said  to  its  mother,  ' '  Let  me  have  the  boy  awhile, ' '  As 
soon  as  the  big  nose  got  a  hold  of  it,  he  took  it  by  the  head  with 
one  hand  and  by  its  feet  with  the  other.  Doing  so,  he  pulled  on 
it  until  he  lengthened  him  out  to  be  a  big  boy.  Here  we  will 
leave  him  and  take  up  another  part  of  the  story.  Afterward 
nine  men  came  along  —  they  were  strangers  looking  for  a  home. 
As  soon  as  the  moon's  big  nose  knew  they  were  strangers  looking 
for  a  home,  he  made  a  little  house  for  them,  in  which  he  shut 
them  all  and  would  not  allow  them  to  go  outside.  This  sort  of 
treatment  gave  them  a  deal  of  surmising  as  to  what  was  to  be  the 
outcome  of  all  this.  If  they  asked  the  big  nose  to  let  them  out, 
it  replied,  "Wait  a  little,"  or  "  Not  yet."  After  they  had  been 
shut  up  a  good  long  while,  ^/ithno  prospect  of  being  liberated, 
the  boy  came  to  them  and  said:  "You  do  not  belong  here;  this 
is  not  your  country.  You  are  nothing  but  slaves  and  will  be  so 
while  you  remain  here."  When  the  men  heard  this  they  were 
very  sorry,  because,  in  their  own  country,  they  were  all  free 
men  of  good  standing.  They  told  the  boy:  "  There  are  ten  in 
our  family,  nine  sons  and  one  daughter;  for  each  one  of  us  our 


THE   MOON  STORY.  45 

father  built  a  house.  We  left  our  own  country  because  we  had 
to  fight.  We  do  not  wish  to  fight  again,  but  will  do  it  sooner 
than  lose  our  liberties,  which  we  dearly  prize."  Hearing  these 
sentiments,  the  blue  of  the  moon  said  if  one  of  the  nine  would 
get  a  spear,  and  pierce  one  or  other  through  the  body,  he  would 
give  to  the  other  eight  their  liberty.  This  they  don't  seem  to 
have  done,  because  I  find  afterward  that  the  whole  nine  of 
them  were  gambling.  Afterward  the  losing  ones  seem  to  have 
accused  the  others  of  foul  play.  Over  this  they  quarreled  and 
fought  amongst  themselves  until  they  were  all  killed.  Their 
sister,  who  had  just  arrived,  was  shocked  to  see  all  of  her 
brothers  lying  dead,  whom  she  had  come  so  far  to  visit.  The 
sister,  having  in  her  pocket  a  very  potent  sort  of  medicine,  put 
some  in  her  mouth,  chewed  it  awhile,  then  spat  it  ori  each  in 
turn,  who  jumped  up  alive  and  as  good  as  ever  they  were.  After 
awhile  they  all  fought  again;  as  often  as  any  of  them  got  killed 
the  services  of  the  sister  and  her  medicine  soon  put  all  to  rights. 
It  appears  that  the  rest  of  the  people  began  to  be  afraid  of  the 
brothers,  their  sister  and  her  life  restorer.  They  seem  to  have 
done  in  all  things  just  as  they  pleased.  In  order  to  get  them  out 
of  the  way,  it  would  appear  that  the  blue  on  the  moon  sent  to  a 
far  country  for  help  against  the  nine,  because,  the  story  goes  on 
to  say,  a  lot  of  men  came  from  a  far-off  country  in  order  to 
fight  the  original  nine.  This  time  they  seem  first  to  have  got  a 
hold  of  the  sister  and  put  her  where  she  could  be  of  no  use  to 
her  brothers.  The  new  comers  then  went  and  challenged  the 
brothers,  who  accepted  the  offer.  The  new  comers  had  the  best 
of  the  fray,  for  all  the  brothers  were  killed.  The  sister,  being 
in  bondage,  could  not  help  them.  So  this  ended  the  nine 
brothers,  all  being  killed  and  their  sister  a  slave,  where  she 
could  not  come  to  resuscitate  them. 

By  looking  at  the  house  next  the  stream,  the  one  without  a 
totem  post,  all  the  figures  representing  this  story  will  be  seen. 
The  name  of  that  house  is  kung-nass  or  moon  house.  The  people 
who  had  the  moon  for  their  crest  had  one  sewed  on  their  blankets, 
generally  of  a  different  color  from  the  blanket.  A  chief  of  this 
crest  had  one  carved  on  his  dancing  head-dress. 


46  TALES  FROM  THE  HIDERY. 

I  shall  next  take  up  the  bear  totem  and  give  the  stories  con- 
nected with  it. 

TALES  FROM  THE  BEAR  TOTEM. 

The  bear  crest  or  totem  belonged  to  the  raven  phratry.  On 
most  of  the  pictures  taken  in  Alaska  of  the  totem  poles,  the  bear 
is  shown  on  top,  while  in  the  miniature  Haida  village  shown  at 
the  late  Chicago  World's  Fair,  the  bear  is  shown  as  the  lowest 
figure  on  the  poles.  How  this  came  to  be,  the  following  will  ex- 
plain :  In  almost  all  of  the  villages  where  these  poles  were  used, 
the  wife,  being  to  a  considerable  extent  the  head  of  her  family, 
had  the  highest  place  on  the  totem  pole,  and  when  her  crest 
was  a  bear,  of  course,  it  was  placed  on  top,  and  when  the  hus- 
band's was  a  bear  it  would  be  placed  on  the  bottom.  Also,  this 
crest  belonged  to  Alaska  and  to  the  northern  parts  of  Hidery 
land,  but  not  to  many  villages  in  the  southern  parts,  only  to 
the  village  of  Skidegat,  where  it  was  introduced  at  a  later  date 
by  one  of  the  chiefs  taking  as  wife  the  daughter  of  one  of  the 
chiefs  of  Skiddance,  who  was  by  birth  a  member  of  the  bear  clan. 
Owing  to  this  crest  belonging  to  a  large  number  of  villages,  it 
had  in  consequence  a  large  number  of  stories.  The  one  I  shall  give 
first  is  the  story  of  the  bear,  his  wife  and  the  man.  In  the  model 
village  above  mentioned  is  a  house,  which  is  placed  near  the  end 
on  the  right.  This  house  has  an  eagle  on  top  of  each  cor- 
ner post.  On  the  ends  of  the  six  roof  beams  are  as  many  bears. 
On  the  totem  pole  the  figures  are  seven  in  number,  namely:  the 
first  and  lowest  is  a  man ;  the  second  is  a  bear ;  the  third  is  a 
young  bear  ;  the  fourth  figure  is  a  woman.  These  four  represent 
the  crest  of  the  man  who  built  this  house,  who  was  a  bear.  The 
other  figures  represent  his  wife  who  was  an  eagle.  Her  story 
has  already  been  given  in  the  story  of  the  eagles. 

T:/E  STORY. 

Long  ago,  somewhere  in  Alaska,  lived  a  man,  whose  name 
tradition  has  not  preserved.  He  had  two  dogs;  the  name  of  one 
was  San-es-wha,  that  of  the  other  Coots-es-wha.  One  day  this 
man  went  a  hunting,  with  his  dogs,  his  bow  and  arrows,  also  a 
spear  whose  shaft  was  two  feathers  in  length.  He  had  not  gone 
far  when  his  dogs  began  to  sniff  and  run  ahead,  the  man  follow- 


THE  BEAR   TOTEM.  47 

ing.  They  soon  came  to  a  house.  It  was  the  house  of  the 
bears.  The  man  went  to  the  door,  at  which  the  bear 
came  outside,  his  wife  following.  Seeing  the  man,  the  bear  took 
hold  of  him  by  his  legs  and  was  rising  up  in  order  to  hug  him. 
Seeing  the  bear's  intentions,  the  man  quickly  put  his  arms  under 
the  fore  legs  of  the  bear  and  threw  him  over  his  shoulder.  By 
the  effort  of  throwing  him,  the  man  lost  his  balance.  In  order 
to  save  himself  he  put  out  his  hands  and  in  doing  so  got  hold  of 
the  wife  on  a  certain  part  of  her  body,  which  rather  pleased  her. 
After  a  while  she  went  into  the  house  and  began  to  scratch  a  hole 
in  the  floor.  By  doing  so  she  showed  that  she  wished  the  man  to 
remain  with  her.  Meanwhile  the  bear,  disliking  such  rough  treat- 
ment, "cleared  out"  for  the  woods,  where  he  remained  a  number 
of  years,  having  gone,  he  said,  in  order  to  get  some  food.  The 
wife,  seeing  that  her  husband  had  gone,  and  the  man  having 
gained  her  affections,  took  possession  of  herself  and  house.  After 
living  with  her  a  number  of  years  and  having  two  children  by 
her,  the  man  said  to  her  one  day  he  would  like  to  return  to  his 
own  country,  in  order  to  visit  his  relations  whom  he  had  not  seen 
for  many  years.  The  wife  replied,  "You  may  go  whenever  you 
please,  but  by  no  means  visit  your  first  wife,  because  you  might 
not  return  to  us."  This  he  promised  not  to  do  ;  so  he  got  ready 
and  left.  After  spending  a  few  weeks  amongst  his  relatives,  he 
one  day  met  his  first  wife,  with  whom  he  held  a  long  conversa- 
tion. During  the  interview  his  old  love  returned  ;  so  he  prom- 
ised to  live  with  her  again  and  leave  her  no  more,  which  he  did. 
When  the  bear  learned  that  the  man  did  not  return  from  his  visit, 
he  came  back  to  his  home  and  wife.  Seeing  she  had  two  children 
to  the  man,  the  bear  grew  jealous  and  feared  the  husband  might 
return.  In  order  to  prevent  him  from  doing  so  the  bear  deter- 
mined to  get  him  out  of  the  way.  In  order  to  effect  his  purpose 
he  made  inquiry  as  to  his  whereabouts.  He  found  that  the 
man  lived  by  the  sea-side,  and  that  he  used  to  sail  about 
in  a  canoe.  One  day  the  bear,  who  was  lying  in  wait  for  him, 
got  a  hold  of  the  man  while  coming  ashore.  A  struggle  ensued 
in  which  the  man  lost  his  life,  either  by  being  drowned,  or  killed 
by  the  bear. 


48  TALES   FROM   THE   HIDERY. 

HOW  THE  BEAR  STOLE  HIS  WIFE  FROM  THE  HIDERY. 

Looking  over  my  papers  a  few  evenings  ago,  I  found  the 
following  tale  of  the  bear  totem,  bearing  date  of  May,  1870,  the 
time  it  was  recorded.  My  informant  was  a  very  intelligent 
Haida,  by  the  name  of  Ya-Quahn,  whose  memory  was  stored 
with  legends  like  the  following,  which  he  used  to  repeat  to  me 
of  an  evening,  seated  by  the  camp-fire: 

"You  ask  me  to  tell  you  something  of  by-gone  days.  I  will 
tell  you  a  tale,  as  I  have  heard  it  told  around  the  lodge-fires  by 
the  old  people,  in  our  long  winter  evenings.  Long  ago,  as  our 
old  people  tell  us,  the  bears  were  a  race  of  beings  less  developed 
than  our  fathers  were.  They  used  to  talk,  walk  upright,  and  use 
their  paws  like  hands.  When  they  wanted  wives,  they  were 
accustomed  to  steal  the  daughters  of  our  people.  This  is  simply 
a  story  of  people  belonging  to  the  bear  gens  taking  for  wives  the 
daughters  of  mothers  belonging  to  another  gens.  In  all  old  tales 
I  have  never  found  the  name  of  the  hero  of  the  tale,  and  when  a 
name  has  been  given,  it  appears  to  be  one  given  by  the  story 
tellers,  rather  than  the  original  name  of  the  hero.  In  this  tale 
no  name  has  been  preserved,  so  I  have  given  names  of  people  I 
have  known,  Queen  Charlotte  Island  Hidery.  Quiss-an-kweedass 
and  Kind-a-wuss  were  a  youth  and  maiden  in  my  native  village  ; 
she  the  daughter  of  one  of  our  chiefs,  he  the  son  of  one  of  the 
common  people.  Both  being  about  the  same  age,  and  having 
been  playmates  from  youth,  their  fondness  for  each  other  was 
such  that  it  was  frequently  said  of  them,  "  If  you  want  Kind-a- 
wuss,  look  for  Quiss-an-kweedass. "  This  youthful  fondness  in 
later  years  ripened  into  a  love  so  strong  that  they  seemed  to  live 
for  each  other.  While  thus  they  loved  each  other,  they  knew 
that  by  the  social  usages  of  the  Haidas  they  could  never  live  as 
husband  and  wife,  both  being  of  one  phratry,  the  raven.  While 
thus  they  continued  to  lovi/  each  other,  time  passed  by  unnoticed. 
Life  to  them  seemed  a  pleasing  dream,  from  which  they  were 
rudely  awakened  by  their  respective  parents  reminding  them  that 
the  time  had  come  for  each  to  choose  a  partner  in  life  from  among 
the  youths  and  maidens  of  the  Hidery,  such  as  would  be  in 
unison  with  their  social  laws.  Seeing  that  these  admonitions 
passed  unheeded,  their  parents  resolved  to  separate  them.  In 


HOW   THE   BEAR   STOLE  HIS  WIFE.  49 

order  to  effect  their  purpose  the  lovers  were  confined  in  the  homes 
of  their  parents,  but  with  them,  as  with  more  civilized  people, 
'  Love  laughs  at  bolts  and  bars.'  They  contrived  to  meet  out- 
side of  the  village,  and  made  their  escape  to  the  woods,  resolved 
to  live  on  the  meanest  fare  in  the  mountain  forest,  rather  than 
return  to  be  separated.  In  a  lonely  glen  by  a  mountain  streamlet, 
under  a  shady  spruce,  they  built  a  rude  hut,  to  which  at  nightfall 
they  always  managed  to  return,  no  matter  in  what  direction  they 
went  in  search  of  food.  While  wandering  about  they  were  careful 
lest  they  should  meet  any  of  their  relatives  who  might  be  in  search 
of  them.  Thus  they  lived  until  the  lengthening  nights  and  stormy 
days  reminded  them  of  approaching  winter, with  its  cutting  winds 
and  snows.  Then  it  was  that  Quiss-an-kweedass  found  it  necessary 
to  revisit  his  home,  and  resolved  to  make  the  journey  alone,  Kind- 
a-wuss  preferring  to  remain,  rather  than  face  her  angry  relatives. 
Having  to  stay  alone  in  the  solitude  of  the  forest,  she  urged  him 
to  promise  before  nightfall  of  the  fourth  day  to  return,  a  request 
to  which  he  readily  assented.  Early  next  morning  he  made  ready 
to  go.  While  he  was  making  preparations,  Kind-a-wuss  thought 
she  would  accompany  him  part  of  the  way,  in  order  to  shorten 
the  length  of  his  absence.  As  they  walked  along  together  they 
discussed  the  probability  of  his  receiving  a  welcome,  until  she 
thought  it  advisable  to  return  to  the  hut,  which  she  did,  little 
thinking  what  would  happen  to  each  before  they  should  meet 
again.  Leaving  Kind-a-wuss  to  find  her  way  back  to  her  moun- 
tain home,  let  us  follow  Quiss-an-kweedass  on  his  way  to  his 
father's  house.  Leaving  her  he  loved  so  well,  he  felt  ill  at  ease 
for  her  safety.  When  he  reached  home  his  parents  kindly  wel- 
comed him,  and  made  inquiries  as  to  Kind-a-wuss,  and  her  where- 
abouts since  they  had  departed;  and  he  told  them  all.  When 
they  heard  how  they  lived,  and  that  she  had  become  his  wife, 
their  wrath  waxed  hot.  They  told  him  he  should  never  go  back 
for  they  would  keep  him  until  she  also  returned,  as  they 
would  make  him  a  prisoner,  which  they  did.  How  and  where 
they  kept  him,  tradition,  as  far  as  I  am  aware,  does  not  tell.  When 
he  could  not  get  away  he  felt  ill  at  ease  with  regard  to  her  he  left 
behind.  He  urged  his  people  to  let  him  go  and  save  her  life,  for 
she  would  never  return  alone.  They  listened  to  his  appeal,  yet 


5O  TALES  FROM  THE  HIDERY. 

thought  differently,  and  still  detained  him.  Seeing  this,  he  grew 
determined  to  effect  his  escape,  which  he  did,  after  being  confined 
a  considerable  time.  As  soon  as  he  was  at  liberty  he  made  all 
haste  to  reach  his  mountain  home, hoping  to  meet  Kind-a-wuss,yet 
fearing  something  might  be  wrong.  When  he  arrived  at  the 
place  where  he  parted  from  her,  he  found  by  the  footprints  ou  the 
soft  earth  that  she  had  started  to  return.  Drawing  near  the  hut 
he  listened,  but  heard  no  sound,  and  saw  no  traces  of  any  one 
having  been  there  lately.  When  he  went  inside  he  was  surprised 
and  horror-stricken  to  find  she  had  not  been  in  the  place  from  the 
time  of  their  departure.  Where  was  she  ?  Had  she  lost  her  way 
while  returning  ?  Hoping  to  find  some  clue  to  her  whereabouts 
he  searched  the  hut,  looked  up  and  down  the  stream,  through  the 
timber,  up  to  the  mountains,  calling  her  by  name  as  he  went 
along — "Kind-a-wuss,  Kind-a-wuss,  where  art  thou?  Kind-a- 
wuss,  come  to  me;  I  am  thine  own  Quiss-an-kweedass.  Do  you 
hear  me,  Kind-a-wuss  ?"  To  these  appeals  the  mountain  echoes 
answered,  "Kind-a-wuss."  After  ineffectually  searching  the 
country  for  a  number  of  days,  sorrowful  and  angry,  he  turned  his 
footsteps  homeward,  grieving  for  the  dear  one  whom  he  had  lost, 
and  angry  with  his  parents,  whom  he  blamed  for  his  misfortune. 
Reaching  home,  he  called  the  attention  of  the  villagers  to  his 
trouble,  and  claimed  their  assistance,  to  which  appeal  a  large 
number  responded,  among  whom  were  the  two  fathers,  one  anx- 
ious for  his  daughter's  safety,  the  other  disturbed  because  he  had 
detained  his  son.  Early  on  the  morning  of  the  third  day  after 
Quiss-an-kweedass  arrived,  this  party,  with  himself  at  the  head, 
set  out  for  a  final  search,  determined  to  find  her  dead  or  alive. 
After  a  search  extending  over  ten  days,  during  which  time  noth- 
ing was  found  except  a  place  where  traces  of  a  struggle  were  visi- 
ble, the  party  gave  up  the  search  and  returned.  As  weeks 
gave  place  to  month  i,  and  months  to  years,  Kind-a-wuss  seemed 
to  have  been  forgotten,  her  name  was  seldom  mentioned,  or 
only  as  the  girl  who  was  lost  and  never  found.  Yet  there  was 
one  who  never  for  a  moment  forgot  her,  her  lover,  who  believed 
her  still  alive,  and  did  all  in  his  power  to  find  her.  Having  been 
so  often  foiled,  he  thought  he  would  visit  a  medicine  man.  or  as 
he  is  named  by  the  Hidery,  Skaggy  (Ska  gildia,  long-haired  one), 


HOW  THE  BEAR  STOLE  HIS  WIFE.  51 

who  was  clairvoyant,  in  order  to  see  whether  by  means  of  his 
gift  this  man  could  reveal  anything.  On  this  idea  he  acted. 
When  he  came  to  the  Skaggy,  Quiss-an-kweedass  was  asked  if  he 
had  with  him  anything  she  had  worn.  On  leaving  the  hut  he  had 
brought  with  him  a  part  or  piece  of  her  clothing,  which  he  gave 
the  Skaggy,  who  upon  taking  it  into  his  hand,  thus  began  :  "I 
see  a  young  woman  lying  on  the  ground,  she  seems  to  be  asleep. 
It  is  Kind-a-wuss.  There  is  something  among  the  bushes,  com- 
ing towards  her.  It  is  a  large  bear.  He  takes  hold  of  her;  she 
tries  to  get  away,  but  cannot.  He  takes  her  away  with  him. 
They  go  a  long  way  off.  I  see  a  lake.  They  reach  the  lake,  and 
stop  at  a  large  cedar  tree.  She  lives  in  the  tree  with  the  bear. 
She  has  been  there  a  long  time.  I  see  two  children,  boys.  She 
had  them  by  the  bear.  If  you  go  to  the  lake  and  find  the  tree, 
you  will  discover  them  all  there."  This  was  cheerful  news  to 
Quiss-an-kweedass,  who  lost  no  time  in  getting  together  a  second 
party.  This  party  was  led  by  the  Skaggy,  who  by  means  of  his 
gift,  soon  found  the  lake  and  also  the  tree.  There  they  halted  in 
order  to  consider  what  was  best  to  be  done  in  case  of  anything 
happening.  It  was  agreed  that  Quiss-an-kweedas  should  call  her 
by  name  before  venturing  up  a  sort  of  step-ladder  which  leaned 
against  the  tree.  After  calling  her  several  times  she  at  length 
looked  out,  and  said,  "Where  do  you  come  from?  and  who 
are  you?"  "I  am  Quiss-an-kweedass,"  said  he.  "I  have 
sought  long  years  for  you;  now  that  I  have  found  you  I  mean  to  take 
you  home  with  me.  Will  you  go?  "  "I  cannot  go  with  you  yet, 
because  my  husband,  the  chief  of  the  bears,  is  not  at  home;  I  can- 
not go  till  he  returns. ' '  After  a  little  familiar  conversation  she 
consented  to  come  down  among  them.  After  they  had  her  in  their 
power  they  carried  her  off  with  them,  making  all  haste  homeward. 
When  they  reached  their  home,  her  parents  were  glad  to  have 
their  lost  child  again,  safe  and  sound,  and  Quiss-an-kweedass  to 
recover  his  loved  one.  Although  at  home,  and  kindly  welcomed, 
she  felt  ill  at  ease  on  account  of  her  two  sons,  and  wished  to  re- 
turn for  them.  This  her  friends  would  not  allow,  but  offered  to 
go  and  bring  them.  To  this  she  replied  that  their  father  would 
not  allow  them  to  go  away  ;  "but,"  said  she,  "there  is  a  way  by 
which  you  may  get  them. ' '  That  is,  the  bear  made  for  her  a 


52  TALES   FROM  THE   HIDERY. 

song,  which  he  used  to  sing ;  if  they  would  learn  it  and  then  go 
to  the  tree  and  sing  it,  he,  the  bear  chief,  would  give  them  all 
they  wished.  After  learning  the  song,  a  party  went  to  the  tree 
and  began  to  sing  it.  As  soon  as  the  bear  heard  the  song  he 
came  down,  thinking  Kind-a-wuss  had  returned.  When  he  saw 
that  she  was  not  there,  he  felt  bad,  and  at  first  refused  to  let  the 
children  go,  but  afterward  consented  when  they  threatened  to 
take  them  by  force. 

I  shall  here  leave  the  party  on  their  way  back  with  the 
two  boys,  and  give  the  story  told  by  Kind-a-wuss,  respect- 
ing the  manner  in  which  she  fell  into  the  power  of  the  bear. 
After  she  turned  back  toward  the  hut  she  had  not  gone  far 
before  she  felt  tired  and  sick  at  heart  for  her  lover ;  in  order 
to  rest  awhile  she  lay  down  in  a  dry,  shady  place,  where  she  fell 
asleep.  While  in  this  state  the  bear  came  along  and  found  her. 
When  she  found  herself  in  the  bear's  clutches  she  tried  hard  to 
get  away,  but  found  her  efforts  useless,  as  she  was  completely  in 
his  power ;  so  he  took  her  an  unwilling  captive  to  his  home, 
which  was  by  the  lake.  As  the  entrance  to  his  house  was  rather 
high  above  the  ground,  he  had  a  sort  of  step-ladder  made, 
whereby  she  could  get  easily  up  and  down,  and  he  also  sent 
some  of  his  tribe  to  gather  soft  moss  wherewith  to  make  her  a 
bed.  When  she  thought  of  her  lover  and  her  relations  she  used 
to  wonder  why  no  one  came  to  seek  for  her,  and  when  the  bear 
saw  her  down-hearted,  he  would  tell  her  to  cheer  up,  and  do  all 
in  his  power  to  make  her  happy.  As  time  passed  on  into  years, 
and  none  of  her  relations  nor  her  lover  came  near  her,  she  began 
to  feel  more  at  home  with  the  bear,  and  by  the  time  the  search 
party  arrived,  she  had  given  up  all  hope  of  ever  being  found. 
The  bear  did  all  he  could  to  make  her  comfortable.  In  order  to 
please  her,  he  used  'p  sit  and  sing,  and  for  that  purpose  had  com- 
posed a  song,  which  to  this  day  is  known  among  the  children  of 
the  Hidery  by  the  name  of  the  Song  of  the  Bears. 

I  have  heard  this  song  sung  many  a  time  and  would  be  glad 
if  I  could  write  it  down  ;  but,  unfortunately,  my  ability  to  write 
music  is  deficient.  I  am  sorry  that  it  is  so,  because  there  is  a 
host  of  ancient  songs  and  tunes  among  these  people  which  I 
would  like  to  preserve,  but  cannot  on  that  account.  With  regard 


HOW  THE  BEAR  STOLE  HIS  WIFE.  53 

to  the  words  of  the  bear's  song,  I  had  long  tried  to  get  them 
from  these  people,  but  was  unable  to  succeed  until  1888,  when  I 
obtained  the  song  from  an  old  acquaintance.  Whether  he  gave 
them  correctly  or  not  I  cannot  say,  but  I  shall  give  them  as  I  got 
them  from  him.  They  are  as  follows: 

I  have  taken  a  fair  maid  from  her  friends  as  my  wife. 

I  hope  her  relatives  won't  come  and  take  her  away  from  me. 

I  will  be  kind  to  her.  I  will  give  her  berries  from  the  hill  and  roots 
from  the  ground. 

I  will  do  all  I  can  to  please  her.  For  her  I  made  this  song,  and  for 
her  I  sing  it. 

This  is  the  song  of  the  bears,  and  whoever  can  sing  it 
has  their  lasting  friendship.  On  this  account  large  numbers 
learned  it  from  Kind-a-wuss,  who  never  again  went  to  live  with 
the  bear.  Out  of  consideration  for  her,  as  well  as  the  many 
troubles  of  the  lovers,  they  were  allowed  to  live  as  husband  and 
wife  and  dwelt  happily  together  for  many  years  in  their  native 
village.  As  for  the  two  sons,  whom  I  shall  name  Loo-goot  and 
Cun-what,  as  they  grew  up  they  showed  different  dispositions, 
Loo-goot  keeping  by  his  mother's  people,  while  the  other,  fol- 
lowing the  father,  lived  and  died  amid  the  bears.  Loo-goot, 
marrying  a  girl  belonging  to  his  parental  crest,  reared  a  family 
from  whom  many  of  this  people  claim  to  be  descendants.  The 
direct  descendant  of  Loo-goot  is  a  pretty  girl,  the  offspring  of  a 
Hidery  mother  and  Kanaka  father,  who  inherits  all  the  family 
belongings.  A  small  brook,  which  flowed  by  their  mountain 
home,  grows  in  its  course  to  be  a  large  stream,  up  which  every 
season  large  quantities  of  salmon  run.  That  stream  is  claimed 
by  the  family  to  this  day  and  out  of  it  they  catch  a  supply  of 
food. 

This  then  is  the  story  of  how  the  chief  of  the  bear  crest  got  a 
wife,  as  was  told  to  me  by  my  informant,  Yah  Quahn,  in  1873. 
I  have  heard  it  told  often  by  others  since  then,  and  at  each  time 
of  telling  a  great  deal  of  the  original  was  lost  or  forgotten,  show- 
ing, I  fear,  that  after  a  few  more  years,  these  fine  old  legends 
would  have  been  lost  beyond  recovery,  had  I  not  collected  them 
when  I  did.  This  pretty  girl  of  1873  was  still  alive  in  1897  and 
still  good  looking.  Her  two  boys  are  now  young  men. 

The  signification  of  the  names  of  the  two  principal  parties 


54  TALES  FROM  THE  HIDERY. 

in  this  tale  is  as  follows:  Quiss-an-kweedass  means  one  who 
plats  or  measures  pieces  of  land.  Kind-a-wuss  means  one  whose 
father  belongs  to  one  tribe  and  her  mother  to  another. 

STORY   OF  THE   BEAR   AND   EAGLE'S   CLAW. 

Inside  of  the  house  in  Skidegat's  Town,  Queen  Charlotte 
Islands,  the  one  occupied  in  1880  by  the  then  Chief  Skidegat, 
was  a  totem  post.  On  it  was  carved  the  following :  First,  the 
lowest,  was  a  brown  bear.  Then  next  an  old  woman  with  long 
lip  ornament.  Above  all  was  an  eagle  and  a  bear.  The  lowest, 
the  bear,  was  the  crest  of  the  chiefs  wife.  The  old  woman,  with 
lip  piece  was  doubtless  the  wife  herself,  the  size  of  the  piece  show- 
ing her  rank.  The  eagle  on  top  with  the  bear  represents  the  fol- 
lowing tale  of  the  totem. 

I/mg  ago  the  bears,  just  as  they  are  now,  were  very  fond  of 
salmon.  They  very  much  preferred  live  ones,  but  owing  to  their 
having  no  claws  to  hold  them,  were  obliged  to  be  content  with 
their  meals  of  dead  ones.  When  they  put  their  paws  on  living  ones, 
in  order  to  catch  them,  the  fishes  generally  wriggled  themselves 
clear,  whereas  if  the  bears  had  claws  or  something  in  their 
stead,  they  could  have  held  them.  How  they  came  to  be  pro- 
vided with  claws  the  following  legend  will  show.  This  legend 
was  told  to  me  by  a  very  intelligent  Haida  named  Amos  Russ. 
While  rendering  it  into  English  I  shall  keep  as  near  to  the  sim- 
plicity of  the  original  as  possible. 

I,ong  ago  a  bear  who  had  come  a  long  way  over  the  moun- 
tains, in  order  to  add  a  few  fresh  salmon  to  his  bill  of  fare, 
found  when  he  reached  the  level  country  a  stream,  in  which 
a  .number  of  beautiful  ones  were  swimming  around.  Being 
early  in  the  season  no  dead  ones  were  lying  on  the  bed  of 
the  stream  and  the  others  were  still  quite  lively.  Seeing  a 
number  of  nice  ones  in  a  pool  he  waded  in,  hoping  to  catch  a  few 
and  take  them  ashore  for  his  dinner.  He  was  not  long  in  the 
pool  until  a  nice  big  one  came  along.  He  soon  had  his  paw  on 
its  back,  from  which  it  soon  wriggled  itself  clear.  Again  and 
again  he  tried  to  hold  them  as  they  passed  along  but  always  with 
the  same  result.  Tired  and  hungry,  as  well  as  disheartened,  he 
raised  his  eyes  heavenward  and  made  this  request :  "  O  thou 
great  and  good  Ne-kilst-lass;  thou  who  listens  to  the  supplica- 


THE  BEAR  AND  EAGLE'S  CLAW.  55 

tions  of  all  thy  creatures,  and  helpest  them  in  all  their  troubles. 
I  come  before  thee  a  poor  and  hungry  bear,  have  traveled  a  long 
and  weary  way  and  have  long  been  trying  in  vain  to  catch  one  of 
these  salmon,  in  order  to  break  my  long  and  weary  fast.  Having 
nothing  wherewith  to  hold  them  they  all  got  away.  Oh  thou 
great  and  good  God,  is  there  nothing  which  may  be  given  me 
whereby  I  may  hold  them  ?  Hear  me,  oh  Ne-kilst-lass,  and  send 
relief. ' '  An  eagle  on  a  neighbouring  tree,  who  had  been  listening 
to  his  cry  for  relief,  flew  down  beside  him,  saying,  "  I  have  been 
listening  to  your  prayer  and  have  come  to  help  you;  hold  up  your 
paw. ' '  So  saying  he  wrenched  off  one  of  his  own  talons  and 
planted  it  on  the  bear's  upheld  fore-paw,  saying:  "That  will 
hold  the  salmon  for  you."  This  claw  not  only  quickly  took  root, 
but  at  the  same  time  all  the  other  paws  were  well  provided  with 
claws,  and  afterward  every  bear  that  came  into  the  world  was  well 
provided  with  them,  and  consequently  never  after  was  without 
a  plentiful  supply  of  fresh  salmon  in  their  season. 

The  original  totem  pole  from  which  this  story  was  taken  is 
to-day  preserved  in  the  British  Columbia  Provincial  Museum  at 
Victoria.  Also  a  model  of  this  house  with  this  totem  pole  inside 
is  shown  in  the  miniature  village  in  the  Field  Columbian  Museum, 
Jackson  Park,  Chicago.  This  model  house  stands  in  the  middle 
of  the  village.  The  totem  pole  can  only  be  seen  by  looking  down 
the  smoke-hole  or  in  by  the  door. 

THE  STORY  OP  THE  BEAR  AND  FROG. 

This  story,  although  connected  with  the  Chooitza-ton  or 
bear  crest,  is  the  only  one  in  existence,  as  far  as  I  have  been 
able  to  learn,  connected  with  the  Kimquestan-ton  or  frog  crest. 
I  have  been  told  that  this  was  a  secret  society,  belonging  ex- 
clusively to  women.  This  society  had  their  ' '  coffin  house  of  the 
frog  ton,"  Sathling-nah-kimqtiestan ;  I  have  been  inside  of  it. 
Having  seen  it,  I  will  give  a  description  of  it.  It  was,  when 
I  saw  it  in  the  summer  of  1883,  strongly  built  of  cedar 
planks,  enclosing  a  space  twenty  feet  square.  Its  roof  was  nearly 
flat  and  covered  with  cedar  boards.  Right  in  the  center  of  the 
house  stood  a  huge  wooden  frog.  Forming  a  square  around  this 
frog  and  six  feet  from  it  on  each  side  were  piled,  one  above  the 
other,  fifty  or  sixty  coffins,  that  is,  boxes  of  all  shapes  and  sizes. 


56  TALES  FROM  THE  HIDERY. 

In  each  one  were  the  dried-up  remains  of  a  human  being.  This 
story  is  from  the  Queen  Charlotte  Island  Hidery  ;  I  give  it  here 
from  its  connection  with  the  bears.  It  is  as  follows: 

Long  ago  there  were  lots  of  frogs  on  these  islands.  Now 
there  are  few,  because  they  have  all  left.  How  they  came  to 
leave  was  as  follows:  I<ong  ago,  a  frog  was  walking  and  jump- 
ing about  amongst  the  wild  flowers  in  the  woods,  making  a  meal 
of  every  little  fly  he  found  on  his  way.  After  awhile  he  came 
upon  a  bear's  road.  This  road  he  followed  for  some  time,  until 
he  met  a  large  bear  coming  along.  Seeing  such  a  diminutive 
object  coming  along  on  his  pathway,  the  bear  stopped  awhile, 
looking  at  it,  saying, ' '  You  ugly  little  brute,  what  are  you  doing 
on  my  path?  "  The  frog  said  not  a  word, but  began  to  swell  up 
a  little.  Seeing  this  the  bear  picked  him  up,  smelled  him,  held 
him  up,  turned  him  round  and  round,  then  set  him  down,  saying, 
"You  dirty  little  brute,  you  are  too  ugly  for  me;"  so  the  bear 
passed  on  his  way.  The  frog,  after  such  rough  usage,  was  so 
terribly  frightened,  that  he  could  do  nothing  for  a  long  time. 
The  frog,  mustering  courage  enough  to  move,  went  direct  home, 
telling  every  living  thing  he  met  what  a  terrible  monster  he  had 
seen,  how  it  took  him  up  and  put  him  to  its  mouth,  as  if  it  would 
devour  him,  then  after  nearly  shaking  him  to  pieces,  smelled  him 
and  then  set  him  down  and  walked  away,  after  calling  him  an 
ugly  little  brute.  "Now,"  said  the  frog,  "what  is  to  be  done? 
We  must  get  him  out  of  the  way  or  we  will  be  all  killed,  every- 
one of  us."  So  they  called  together  a  council  of  all  the  frogs  to 
meet  on  a  certain  day.  At  the  council,  the  first  frog  gave  a  de- 
scription of  the  bear  in  such  a  manner  that  numbers  of  the  frogs 
nearly  died  from  fright.  Before  the  council  broke  up,  they  de- 
cided as  follows:  That  it  was  useless  trying  to  kill  or  drive 
away  such  a  terrible  animal  out  of  the  country.  The  best  thing 
for  the  frogs  to  do,  was  themselves  to  leave.  To  the  above  de- 
cision they  all  agreed  and  left  the  country,  one  and  all  of  them. 
Nowadays  frogs  are  neither  seen  nor  heard  on  these  islands. 

THE  STORY  OF  THE  MOUNTAIN  GOATS. 

The  mountain  goat  is  a  crest  of  the  raven  phratry.  It 
is  not  shown  on  any  of  the  totem  posts  at  the  model  village. 
It  is  shown  as  a  head  with  two  horns  on  top  of  the  mortuary 


THE  MOUNTAIN  GOATS.  57 

column  erected  to  the  memory  of  Chief  Skiddance  of  Skid- 
dance.  This  column  stands  in  front  of  one  of  the  houses. 
The  figures  on  it  are  as  folllows:  The  lowest  a  bear,  Skid- 
dance's  crest;  the  second,  the  head  with  horns,  showing  that 
he  was  connected  with  the  society  of  the  mountain  goat ;  the 
third,  on  top  is  the  moon ;  on  each  side  of  the  column  are  two 
little  figures  of  a  man  and  woman.  The  bear  signifies  greatness, 
the  goat  nobility,  the  moon  height.  Altogether  the  inscription 
reads  thus:  "  Erected  to  the  memory  of  the  great,  the  noble  and 
the  high  Skiddance,  Chief  of  Skiddance,  by  his  daughter  and  son- 
in-law,  the  two  little  figures."  This  story  of  the  mountain  goat 
does  not  belong  to  the  Hidery ;  it  is  a  story  of  the  same  totem 
belonging  to  the  Cowitchian  tribes  of  Vancouver  Island.  The 
name  in  the  language  of  these  people  is  pe-kull-kun ,  pe  white, 
kull-kun,  wild  animal. 

THE   STORY. 

"  There  was  a  time  long  ago,  our  fathers  tell  us,  when  our 
people,  the  Whull-e-mooch,  (  dwellers  on  Whull,  Puget  Sound, 
State  of  Washington )  lived  a  long  way  further  south  than  we 
their  children  do  now.  Northward  from  the  sea  coast  to  the 
farthest  mountains,  the  whole  country  as  well  as  the  sea  was 
covered  with  snow  and  ice,  so  deep  that  the  summer  heat  failed 
to  melt  it.  The  old  folks  tell  us  that  their  fathers  did  not  like  the 
land  they  lived  in,  but  were  at  a  loss  where  to  go.  Southward 
lived  a  people  they  feared,  because  they  were  stronger  than  our 
fathers  were ;  northward  the  snow  and  ice  as  well  as  the  great 
cold  prevented  their  moving  in  that  direction.  While  they  were 
discussing  what  to  do,  Spaul,  the  raven  god,  suddenly  came 
amongst  them.  After  listening  to  their  grievances  he  said,  '  I 
shall  soon  settle  that  difficulty.'  So  saying,  he  turned  all  the 
snow  and  ice  into  pe-kull-kun,  and  sent  them  to  make  their 
abode  in  the  fastness  of  the  highest  mountains,  where  there  would 
be  plenty  of  food  for  them,  while  their  flesh  would  be  food  and 
their  hair  clothing  for  the  Whull-e-mooch  for  ever.  After  the 
snow  and  ice  had  all  gone,  the  climate  became  warmer  and  the 
land  drier,  which  enabled  the  Whull-e-mooch  to  move  northward 
to  where  we,  their  children,  now  live  and  our  fathers  lived  be- 
fore us." 


58  TALES  FROM  THE  HIDERY. 

This  tradition  is  remarkable  from  the  fact  that  at  one  time 
this  Pacific  slope  was  covered  with  snow  and  ice.  This  the  ice 
grooves,  which  everywhere  abound,  from  the  bottom  of  the  sea  to 
the  tops  of  the  hills,  plainly  show.  It  is  not  at  all  apparent  that 
the  Indians  would  ever  think  to  associate  these  ice  grooves  with 
a  period  of  snow  and  ice.  It  is  a  tradition  of  the  settlement 
of  this  country  after  the  glacial  period. 

WASCO  AND   THE  STORY. 

Wasco,  the  subject  of  this  story,  is  one  of  the  crests  belong- 
ing to  the  eagle  phratry.  As  far  as  I  can  learn  a  tradition  of  an 
animal  which  lived  in  the  water  and  on  the  land  has  long  lin- 
gered amongst  the  Hidery.  Never  having  seen  one,  its  tradi- 
tional appearance  along  with  its  name  wasco,  were  preserved. 
While  making  an  image  of  it  they  had  to  follow  the  traditional 
description  of  what  was  evidently  an  alligator.  In  bygone  days 
when  the  Hidery  began  to  adopt  animals  as  family  crests,  some 
one  doubtless  had  heard  of  wasco  and  adopted  it  as  his  ton 
(crest).  The  name, as  far  as  I  am  aware,  is  only  applied  to  amphib- 
ious animals  like  the  above.  When  the  Hidery  make  a  painting 
of  a  wasco  the  tail  is  generally  turned  up  along  its  back ;  when  a 
carving,  it  generally  has  no  tail.  With  regard  to  its  name,  wasco, 
the  following  is  rather  strange.  I  have  a  work  by  Louis  Fiquier, 
"  The  World  Before  the  Deluge,"  in  which  at  page  255  is  a  pic- 
ture representing  an  ideal  landscape  of  the  lower  oolite  period. 
In  it  is  shown  a  little  animal  with  its  tail  like  wasco's,  turned 
along  its  back,  and  a  young  one  holding  on  to  it,  while  the  mother 
is  climbing  up  the  roots  of  a  tree.  The  name  given  to  this  ani- 
mal is  phascolo-therium.  One  day  a  Hidery  man  had  this  book 
looking  at  the  pictures.  When  he  saw  the  animal  going  up  the 
tree,  he  called  my  attention  to  it,  saying,  "Here  is  Wasco."  Look- 
ing at  the  picture,  f'found  its  name  phascolo-therium,  a  wild  ani- 
mal. With  the  Hidery  wasco  was  considered  a  wild  animal  also. 

THE  STORY. 

Long  ago,  three  men  lived  at  Quillcah,  an  ancient  village 
which  stood  at  the  head  of  a  bay  three  miles  west  from  the  pres- 
ent town  of  Illth-cah-getla  or  Skidegat's  town.  In  front  of  this 
village  was  a  low  but  steep  bank,  over  which  the  villagers  used 


THE   THUNDER-BIRD. 


A    PIPE    WITH    WASCO    AND   WHALES. 


WASCO  AND  THE  STORY.  59 

to  throw  the  refuse  of  their  food.  In  time  this  became  quite  a 
large  heap,  in  which  they  used  to  bury  their  dead,  of  which  a 
number  of  skeletons  were  found  a  few  years  ago  while  leveling  a 
site  for  the  refinery  building  of  the  Skidegat  fish-oil  works.  I  first 
saw  this  place  in  1869 ;  then  an  old  and  dense  forest  covered  it  to 
the  water  edge.  I  have  made  this  departure  because  I  will  have  to 
mention  this  ancient  village  in  a  few  of  my  stories.  Part  of  the 
inhabitants  of  this  village  were  the  three  men  above  mentioned. 
What  their  names  were  I  am  unable  to  say,  because  the  name  of 
only  one  has  been  preserved,  that  of  the  hero  of  this  story  whose 
name  was  Coon-ahts  (whale  catcher,  I  believe.) 

One  day  they  together  left  this  village  and  went  over  the  hills 
to  a  lake,  several  miles  away.  After  spending  several  hours  at  the 
lake  they  prepared  to  return.  Doing  so  they  were  surprised  to 
find  that  Coon-ahts  was  absent.  After  calling  him  by  name  and 
waiting  awhile  without  finding  him  they  gave  up  the  search  and 
went  home.  In  this  lake  the  above  mentioned  Wasco  had  his 
abode,  from  which  following  the  outlet  he  often  went  to  sea  in 
order  to  catch  whales.  While  out  a  fishing  he  would  frequently 
return  with  a  number  of  whales  on  his  back.  Sometimes  he  had 
one,  at  other  times  more.  The  most  he  appears  to  have  got  at 
one  time  was  five.  These  he  brought  ashore  in  the  following 
order:  one  in  his  large  mouth,  one  between  his  long  ears,  two 
along  his  back  with  their  tails  on  each  side,  and  one  under  his 
tail.  It  certainly  was  a  powerful  sort  of  an  animal  to  be  able  to 
do  such  feats. 

There  was,  it  seems,  a  belief  amongst  these  people,  that 
whosoever  could  kill  Wasco  and  wear  his  skin,  would  become  as 
strong  and  be  as  able  to  catch  whales  as  he  was,  more  so  while 
clad  in  Wasco's  skin.  It  is  also  told  that  he  had  a  fondness  for 
sharpening  his  appetite  on  young  children,  but  this  part  of  the 
tradition  is  not  generally  believed. 

In  order  to  try  what  could  be  done,  one  man  had  been 
scheming  to  catch  him  and  that  man  was  our  hero,  Coon-ahts. 
He  had  left  the  others,  in  order  to  make  a  trap  wherewith  to 
catch  Wasco.  This  they  did  not  know.  A  trap  to  hold  such  an 
animal  must  have  been  not  only  large  but  extra  strong.  Coon- 
ahts  found  from  observation  that  Wasco,  going  and  returning, 


60  TALKS  FROM  THE  HIDERY. 

always  walked  in  the  outlet.  Consequently  a  strong  beam  placed 
across  the  stream,  to  which  a  number  of  ropes  with  a  running 
noose  were  attached,  could  not  fail  to  catch  him  in  one  or  other 
of  them.  Looking  along  the  stream  for  a  suitable  place  he  found 
a  tree  growing  close  to  the  river.  Then  he  felled  a  stout  tree 
across  the  river,  close  along  side  of  the  standing  one,  to  which  he 
bound  it  firmly  with  a  strong  rope.  Then  he  crossed  over  the 
stream  and  felled  two  stout  trees.  These  he  bound  together  like 
an  X.  Then  he  raised  the  two  upper  ends,  dropping  the  two 
lower  ones  into  holes  he  had  dug  for  them.  After  having  them 
firmly  placed,  he  raised  the  end  of  the  cross-beam  and  dropped  it 
into  the  shears.  His  next  step  was  to  get  a  number  of  strong 
ropes.  These  he  formed  into  running  loops,  tying  them  strongly 
to  the  cross-beam,  each  hanging  low  enough  for  Wasco  to  run  his 
head  into  one  or  other  of  them  while  passing  underneath.  Hav- 
ing everything  secure,  he  went  home.  Returning  in  a  day  or 
two,  he  found  Wasco  dead,  having  strangled  himself  while  pass- 
ing beneath.  Coon-ahts'  next  step  was  to  get  Wasco  out  of  the 
water  in  order  to  skin  him,  which  he  did  without  delay.  Having 
done  so,  he  took  the  skin  and  fitted  it  on  himself,  in  a  manner 
that  in  every  respect  looked  like  the  original  Wasco.  When 
fully  dressed  a  feeling  came  over  him,  which  then  and  ever  after 
he  was  unable  to  resist,  which  urged  him  to  go  out  to  sea  and  try 
to  catch  whales.  Ever  after,  when  any  of  the  people  wished  a 
little  whale  meat  all  that  Coon-ahts  had  to  do  was  to  get  into  the 
skin  and  off  to  sea. 

Looking  over  my  papers  I  find  that  tradition  mentions  two 
sorts  of  traps,  one  I  have  already  given.  I  shall  now  give  the 
other.  In  this  one,  as  in  the  other,  Coon-ahts  made  a  pair  of 
strong  shears,  then  he  went  back  and  felled  a  tree  so  as  it  would 
fall  into  the  X,  with  its  top  projecting  over  the  stream.  Then 
he  trimmed  off  the  branches,  and  cut  the  top  to  a  required  length 
over  the  animal's  trail.  Then  from  the  tree  he  hung  a  very  strong 
noose,  in  such  a  position  that  Wasco  could  not  help  running  his 
head  into  it.  The  ropes  he  used  were  made  from  cedar  saplings. 
When  all  was  ready  Coon-ahts  hid  himself  and  awaited  the  out- 
come. After  awhile  Wasco  came  along  and  ran  his  head  into 
the  noose  and  soon  strangled  himself.  Then  Coon-ahts  left  his 


THE   STORY.  6 1 

hiding  place  and  skinned  him.  These  are  the  two  traditional 
stories. 

In  the  village  of  Skidegat,  on  the  east  side  of  the  road  from  the 
shore  through  the  middle  of  the  village,  stood  a  house  named 
Sen-i-coot-quin-nie,  house  of  contentment  or  the  contented 
peoples'  house.  In  the  minature  village  this  model  house  is  No. 
19,  and  also  stands  in  the  middle  of  the  village.  On  the  totem  pole 
are  three  figures  —  first,  Wasco,  whose  head  is  shown  and  a  whale 
as  if  on  its  back  ;  second  figure  is  a  scannah,  and  the  third,  is 
a  female  doctor  or  medicine  woman  in  full  dress.  She  forms  a 
continuation  of  the  above  story,  which  is  as  follows: 

Long  ago  a  Skaggy  woman  lived  at  Kie,  near  Skidegat.  At 
that  time  the  people  were  very  much  in  want  of  food.  At  this 
time  she  came  amongst  them  in  her  full  regalia,  with  her  clecha- 
darran,  or  circle  of  puffins'  beaks  in  each  hand,  as  is  shown  by 
the  carving.  Knowing  them  to  be  in  want,  she  promised  to  bring 
them  within  three  days  food  enough  to  satisfy  their  wants.  Day 
after  day  passed  until  the  afternoon  of  the  third,  when  a  number 
of  whales  appeared.  When  they  got  inshore,  where  they  could  be 
seen,  there  were  three  of  them.  Seeing  the  whales,  she  harangued 
the  people,  saying  this  :  "You  see,"  she  said,  "what  I  can  do; 
see  here,  according  to  promise  I  have  brought  you  not  one  or  two 
whales;  just  look  and  see  for  yourselves;  there  are  three  of  them 
and  enough  for  every  purpose. ' '  When  she  had  finished  her 
oration,  Coon-ahts,  who  it  was  had  brought  in  the  whales,  threw 
off  his  skin,  jumped  up  and  said:  "  It  was  I,  not  you,  who 
brought  in  these  whales."  Hearing  this,  the  old  woman  was  so 
ashamed  at  being  made  a  liar  before  all  the  people  that  she  drop- 
ed  dead  where  she  stood. 

The  pipe  along  with  this  story  shows  Wasco  with  his  load 
of  whales.  The  three  men  on  top  of  the  totem  pole  attached  to 
this  house  in  the  miniature  village,  and  the  man  on  each  corner 
post  are  the  taden  skeel  of  the  family,  adopted  through  their  con- 
nection with  the  Skidegat  family.  The  family  crests  were  first, 
the  wife's  which  was  a  scannah  of  the  raven  phratry,  and  that  of 
the  husband  which  was  a  wasco  of  the  eagle  phratry. 


62  TALES  FROM  THE  HIDERY. 

THE  SCANNAH   TOTEM   AND   ITS  STORIES. 

The  scannah  or  finback  whale  is  so  named  because  a  long 
fin  which  it  has  on  its  back  is  generally  seen  above  water,  while 
the  fish  is  floating  near  the  surlace.  This  sort  of  whale  used  to 
be  very  plentiful  in  these  northern  waters,  and  by  observation  I 
think  it  is  still  numerous.  By  some  writers  its  name  is  given  as 
delphinus  orca,  and  by  others  as  orca  ater.  The  Hidery  name  for 
it  is  scannah.  Amongst  the  Hidery  there  are  two  sorts,  scannah 
and  auch-willo ;  the  former  has  one  dorsal  fin  while  the  latter  is 
said  to  have  seven,  never  less  than  five.  According  to  the  Hidery 
the  auch-willo  represents  the  highest  rank,  while  the  scannah  re- 
presents the  commonality.  How  the  auch-willo  came  to  be  the 
highest,  the  Hidery  tell  the  following  story. 

"  I/)ng  ago  the  scannahs  could  not  agree  amongst  themselves, 
so  in  order  to  preserve  peace,  they  agreed  to  have  a  king  over 
them.  So  they  sent  a  deputation  to  the  walrus,  asking  him  to 
be  their  king.  This  he  refused  to  be.  Then  they  sent  to  the 
dolphin  and  several  others  with  the  same  result.  When  they 
could  not  get  a  king  they  applied  to  the  god  Ne-kilst-lass  for  help. 
To  their  request  he  replied,  '  you  shall  have  neither  one  nor  other 
of  those.  This  I  will  do  for  you.  I  will  take  one  of  your  num- 
ber who  shall  be  your  king,  and  as  a  distinguishing  mark  he 
shall  have  seven  dorsal  fins  and  his  name  forever  shall  be  auch- 
willo.'  " 

In  the  model  village  at  the  late  World's  Fair  at  Chicago  is  a 
house  with  an  auch-willo  totem  pole.  The  pole  stands  to  this 
day  in  the  village  of  Skidegat,  but  the  house  has  gone.  One 
branch  of  the  scannah  gens  had  for  a  distinguishing  mark  a  scan- 
nah with  a  hole  in  its  dorsal  fin.  This  is  represented  in  the  mini- 
ature village  as  well  as  often  shown  in  pictures  of  the  totem  poles. 

The  origin  of  this  hole  in  the  dorsal  fin  is  as  follows  :  The 
scannah  was  always  dreaded,  not  only  by  the  Hidery,  but  by  all 
the  tribes  in  Northern  British  Columbia  and  Southern  Alaska  as 
well,  because  it  was  the  general  belief  that  these  whales  always 
tried  to  break  the  canoes  and  drown  the  Indians,  who  then  became 
whales.  It  is  told,  that  long  ago  two  Hidery  belonging  to  Chief 
Klue's  village  went  out  in  a  canoe  in  order  to  kill  some  of  these 
whales,  apparently  as  a  daring  adventure.  They  had  not  pad- 


SCANNAH  TOTEM  STORIES.  63 

died  far  out  to  sea  before  the  canoe  was  surrounded  by  a  great 
number  of  these  evil  creatures  which  were  about  to  break  their 
canoe  in  pieces.  One  of  the  men,  grasping  his  knife,  said  to  the 
other  that  if  he  was  drowned  and  became  a  scannah,  he  would  still 
hold  the  knife  and  stab  the  others.  The  second  man  holding 
to  a  fragment  of  the  canoe,  floated  near  an  island  and  swam 
ashore.  The  first  was  drowned,  but  this  companion  who  had 
escaped  soon  heard  strange  and  very  loud  noises  beneath  the 
water,  like  great  guns  being  fired.  Presently  a  vast  number  of 
fish  floated  up  dead  and  with  them  a  large  scannah,  which  had  a 
large  wound  in  its  side  from  which  much  blood  flowed. 
The  Skaggy  or  medicine  man  of  the  village  said  afterward  that 
he  knew,  or  saw,  that  the  one  so  killed  was  the  chief  of  the 
scaunahs  and  the  one  Indian  who  killed  him  had  now  become 
chief  in  his  stead,  and  took  for  the  crest  of  his  clan  this  hole  in 
the  dorsal  fin. 

This  clan,  at  one  time  was  very  numerous  and  consequently 
powerful ;  they  had  a  village  of  their  own  on  the  west  coast  of 
Queen  Charlotte  Island ;  its  name  I  think  was  Teaen.  For  some 
reason  or  other,  their  powerful  neighbors  on  the  southern  end  of 
these  islands,  the  Ninstints,  declared  war  on  them.  After  a  long 
struggle  the  scannahs  were  vanquished  by  the  Ninstints,  a  large 
number  of  them  being  taken  prisoners  of  war  and  sold  as  slaves. 
As  soon  as  they  were  left  alone,  the  remnant  of  the  scannahs  took 
all  their  belongings  and  left  their  ancient  home  forever  and  settled 
at  the  head  of  a  bay  far  north  from  their  much  loved  Teaen. 
Here  they  remained  in  peace  a  number  of  years.  Again  their 
relentless  foes,  the  Ninstints,  found  them.  Again  they  fled 
northward,  led  by  a  Skaggy  of  considerable  ability.  Having  fled 
in  a  hurry,  they  had  neglected  to  take  a  supply  of  food  along  with 
them  and  consequently  were  soon  in  a  bad  condition.  At  this 
stage  of  affairs  they  all  begged  of  the  Skaggy  to  take  them  to 
where  they  could  get  some  food.  To  this  he  replied  :  "Just  wait 
a  little  and  you  will  soon  get  plenty."  After  a  while  they  came  to 
alow,  rocky  shore  with  a  low,  level  country  behind.  "Now,"  said 
their  leader,  ' '  here  is  a  wild  looking  shore ;  we  will  go  into  the 
best  place  we  can  find  ;  I  am  sure  the  Ninstints  won't  trouble  us 
here.  "  So  in  they  all  went.  They  were  not  long  on  shore  before 


64  TALES  FROM  THE  HIDERY. 

they  found  this  place  afforded  but  little  shelter  and  about  as  little 
food.  Seeing  the  poor  resources  of  their  new  settlement  the 
Skaggy  said  :  '  'You  shall  all  have  plenty  of  food  before  long. ' ' 
Toward  evening,  after  they  had  got  a  temporary  house  put  up, 
and  all  feeling  much  the  pangs  of  an  empty  stomach,  all  again 
asked  the  Skagga  for  the  promised  supply  of  food.  To  this  he 
replied  :  ' '  Tomorrow  all  of  you  look  toward  yonder  little  island 
and  you  will  see  plenty  of  food  coming  toward  you. ' '  Next  morn- 
ing while  a  dark  object  was  seen  in  the  distance,  coming  toward 
the  shore,  some  one  went  to  ask  the  Skaggy  what  it  was,  but  he 
was  nowhere  to  be  found.  After  watching  it,  they  found  to  their 
surprise,  it  was  their  Skaggy  coming,  riding  on  the  back  of  a 
large  whale.  He  had,  unknown  to  the  others,  gone  out  towards 
the  little  island  and  caught  a  whale.  As  soon  as  he  was  on  shore, 
he  said  :  "  Here  is  the  food  I  told  you  of,  so  now  help  yourselves." 
This  they  gladly  did.  Being  still  afraid  of  the  Ninstints  and  the 
place  being  bleak  and  cheerless,  having  neither  a  harbor  nor 
shelter  of  any  sort,  they  were  ready  at  any  time  to  move.  This 
they  did  before  their  supply  of  food  was  exhausted.  As  before 
their  course  was  still  northward  until  they  came  to  the  village 
of  Kioostia,  of  which  Edensaw  was  Chief.  Edensaw  and  his 
people,  knowing  well  their  many  troubles,  kindly  welcomed  them 
and  gave  them  a  large  flat  on  the  northwest  point  of  Queen 
Charlotte  Island,  at  the  entrance  to  Perry  Passage,  between 
the  mainland  of  V.  C.  and  North  Island.  There  under  the 
protection  of  Edensaw  and  his  powerful  tribe  they  built  their 
future  home  and  gave  it  the  name  of  Yakh.  Having  made  them- 
selves comfortable,  they  next  tried  to  fortify  themselves  by  dig- 
ging a  ditch  or  moat  from  sea  to  sea  across  the  point.  This  they 
filled  with  water  by  turning  a  stream  into  it.  Then  for  further 
protection  they  raised  a  palisading  within  the  circuit  of  this  moat. 
Edensaw  the  chief,  who  was  my  informant,  told  me  they  did 
not  dig  this  moat,  if  not,  they  must  have  repaired  one  made  by  an 
older  people.  Although  they  had  comfortable  homes  on  a  beau- 
tiful tract  of  land,  hard  luck  seems  to  have  followed  them,  be- 
cause in  1883,  when  I  was  at  their  village,  it  was  in  ruins  and 
not  a  living  soul  of  this  once  powerful  tribe  was  left.  First,  chil- 
dren ceased  to  be  born  into  the  tribe.  Then  the  few  left  died. 


THE  SCANNAH   TOTEM   AND   ITS  STORIES.  65 

Then  one  by  one  the  old  folks  passed  away  until  one  old  man 
alone  of  all  the  others  was  left  in  the  village.  Then  kind  folks  in 
the  next  village  took  care  of  him  until  he  was  gathered  to  his 
fathers.  There  being  no  one  left  to  take  care  of  the  houses  they 
soon  fell  to  pieces.  Even  the  tombs  are  falling  and  exposing  the 
mummified  remains  of  the  dead.  Even  their  tall  elaborately  carved 
totem  poles  are  yielding  to  the  inevitable.  Passing  through  their 
ruined  village  one  day  I  came  to  a  little  house  about  six  feet 
square;  looking  inside  I  saw  two  or  three  coffins.  Standing  up 
against  one  of  them  was  the  insignia  of  the  chief  of  this  clan.  On 
inquiry  afterward,  I  found  that  this  was  the  tomb  of  the  last  chief. 
When  he  died  there  was  none  left  to  take  his  place.  As  it  may  be 
interesting  to  some  to  have  a  description  of  his  insignia  of  office, 
I  will  give  it  here.  First  a  wooden  whale  fourteen  inches  in 
length.  On  its  back  was  its  dorsal  fin  about  the  same  length, 
with  the  usual  round  hole  in  it.  On  the  other  side  was  a  staff 
three  feet  in  length,  let  into  the  fish's  belly.  As  for  the  Skaggy 
going  out  to  the  little  island  and  catching  a  whale  and  bringing 
it  ashore,  I  can  only  say  that  it  was  firmly  believed  in  by  all  the 
people.  I  have  seen  the  place  where  they  lived  and  the  little 
island.  It  appears  to  be  about  ten  miles  from  the  shore. 

In  conclusion  I  may  say  a  few  words  about  the  Ninstints 
tribe,  so  named  after  their  chief.  They  lived  on  an  island  shown 
on  the  chart  as  Anthony  at  the  entrance  to  Houston  Stewart 
Channel.  To-day  this  tribe  are  few  in  numbers  and  their  village 
is  almost  a  ruin. 

I  shall  take  for  my  first  story 

KEEL-COONUC,  OR   WHALE'S  SLAVE. 

At  one  end  of  the  division  behind  the  model  Hidery  village 
in  the  Anthropological  building  of  the  Columbian  Exposition  at 
Chicago,  were  several  other  models  of  Indian  houses  from  differ- 
ent parts  of  British  Columbia.  In  this  smaller  collection  were 
two  Haida  houses.  These  were  placed  apart  from  the  others,  be- 
cause they  were  part  of  Ninstints  town,  a  village  on  the  south- 
ern end  of  Queen  Charlotte  Islands.  The  name  of  one  of  the 
houses  was  nah-heeldans,  house  of  the  earthquake,  because,  it 
seems,  while  this  house  was  being  built,  there  was  an  earthquake. 


66  TALKS   FROM   THE   HIDERY. 

A  man  named  Quill-ance  built  this  house ;  his  wife  was  named 
Gawh-nutt.  The  figures  on  the  totem  post  are  as  follows :  First, 
the  lowest,  is  a  sort  of  fish  which  it  is  said  was  once  very  abund- 
ant in  the  waters  on  the  Alaskan  coasts  and  near  Fort  Simpson 
in  Northern  B.  C.  The  name  of  this  fish  was  Keel-coonuc  or 
whale's  slave,  because  it  seems  to  have  always  gone  ahead  of  the 
whale,  in  order  to  lead  them  to  good  feeding  grounds.  As  the 
principal  story  connected  with  this  is  one  belonging  to  the  Scan- 
nah  totem,  I  shall  give  it  here. 

THE  STORY. 

Ix>ng  ago,  at  the  Indian  town  Kitt-kathla,  in  Northern 
British  Columbia,  lived  a  man  who  by  birth  was  half  Kitt- 
kathla  and  half  Billa-billa,  a  neighboring  tribe.  He  always  lived 
at  Kitt-kathla.  This  man's  name  was  Keel-coonuc  and  he  is  said 
to  have  been  a  Scannah  in  disguise.  Walking  along  shore  one 
day,  he  espied  four  men  in  a  canoe,  coasting  along.  They  were 
out  hunting  and  fishing.  As  soon  as  Keel-coonuc  saw  them,  he 
made  for  the  canoe  and  took  possession  of  it  and  the  men.  He 
then  pulled  them  under  the  water  where  he  kept  them  a  whole 
year.  During  the  absence  of  the  men,  their  friends,  who  had  been 
seeking  for  them  everywhere  unsuccessfully,  came  at  length  to 
the  brother  of  Keel-coonuc  and  asked  him  if  he  ever  saw  four 
men  who  some  time  ago  went  a  hunting  and  fishing  in  a  canoe. 
He  replied,  he  knew  nothing  of  them,  but  would  ask  his  brother 
if  he  did,  and  would  do  all  he  could  to  find  them.  The  friends 
replied  they  would  be  glad  if  he  could,  because  their  families  were 
starving.  The  house  in  which  the  two  brothers  lived  had  no 
sides,  only  a  roof,  and  was  full  of  Scannahs.  Amongst  them  were 
the  four  men  kept  as  prisoners.  When  his  brother  asked  him  if 
he  had  at  any  time  seen  four  men  hunting  and  fishing  in  a  canoe, 
he  replied:  "Yes,  I  have  them  all  here."  So  Keel-coonuc  went 
and  drove  them  all  outside,  saying,  '  'Here  are  all  your  friends  ; 
take  them  with  you  and  go  home."  So  all  left  for  home,  at 
which  in  proper  time,  all  arrived  in  safety,  after  their  initiation 
into  one  of  the  societies  belonging  to  the  Scannah  crest. 

THE  SCANNAH  TOTEM    AND  STORIES. 

This,  the  second  story  of  the  Scannahs,  is  the  adventures  of 


THE  SCANNAH  TOTEM   AND  STORIES.  67 

Scannah-gan-nuncus,  while  trying  to  find  the  beautiful  queen  of 
the  Cowgans.  The  name  signifies  the  hero  of  the  Scannah  crest ; 
Cow-gans  means  wood  or  field  mice  (wood  nymphs). 

The  following  story  I  found  amongst  the  Hidery  many  years 
ago.  What  I  then  learned  was  merely  a  fragment  of  the  tale  as 
I  know  it  to-day.  After  first  hearing  it,  I  spared  neither  time  nor 
trouble  in  order  to  obtain  the  whole,  if  possible.  Although,  af- 
ter a  deal  of  research,  I  have  been  able  to  add  a  great  deal  more  to 
the  original,  I  fear  there  yet  remains  a  great  deal  of  it  stored  in 
the  memories  of  the  old  folks.  What  I  do  know,  I  give  in  this 
paper,  telling  it  as  nearly  like  the  original  as  possible. 

This  is  a  story  of  the  long  long  ago  told  amongst  our  peo- 
ple, the  Hidery,  that  at  Quilh-cah,  about  three  miles  west  from 
the  village  of  Illth-cah-geetla,  or  Skidegat's  town,  lived  a -boy 
whose  name  was  Scannah-gan-nuncus.  The  boy  dwelt  with  his 
aged  nanie  (grandmother).  He  was  the  youngest  of  a  family  of 
eleven  sons.  Both  of  his  parents  were  dead,  also  his  ten  broth- 
ers, of  whom  I  shall  say  more  by  and  by.  Excepting  himself  and 
the  old  woman  no  other  person  lived  at  that  place.  All  the  other 
Indians  in  that  quarter  lived  on  Maud  Island,  three  miles  to  the 
west.  Our  hero  and  his  grandmother  belonged  to  a  crest  differ- 
ent from  the  others.  Close  to  the  house  in  which  they  lived  were 
three  stone  canoes.  What  is  meant  by  these  I  do  not  know,  un- 
less they  are  canoes  made  entirely  by  hot  stones  and  stone  imple- 
ments, as  used  to  be  the  case  in  olden  times.  This  boy,  it  seems, 
was  so  weak  and  sickly  that  he  could  neither  stand  upright  nor 
walk.  His  weakest  parts  were  from  the  knees  down.  One  day 
he  said,  "Granny,  put  me  into  one  of  those  canoes  ;"  which  she 
did.  After  sitting  in  the  canoe  a  considerable  length  of  time,  he 
became  quite  strong  and  was  able  to  walk  like  any  other  person. 
After  becoming  strong,  he  used  to  swim  about  in  the  bay.  One 
day,  instead  of  a  swim,  he  concluded  to  have  a  sail,  and  with  this 
idea  got  his  grandmother's  aid  to  put  one  of  these  canoes  on  the 
water.  While  this  was  being  done,  two  of  them  broke,  but  with 
the  third  they  were  successful.  After  this,  instead  of  swimming, 
he  used  to  sail  about  on  the  waters  of  the  bay,  gradually  ventur- 
ing farther  and  farther  from  the  shore.  One  day,  making  a  fur- 
ther venture  than  usual,  he  sailed  up  the  Hunnah,  a  mountain 


68  TALES  FROM  THE  HIDERY. 

stream  emptying  its  waters  into  Skidegat  channel,  four  or  five 
miles  west  from  the  place  where  he  lived. 

Tradition  says  that  this  river  in  those  days  was  three  times 
larger  than  it  is  nowadays.  At  present  there  is  seldom  water 
enough  to  float  a  canoe,  unless  at  high  water.  It  is  also  related 
that  the  waters  of  the  sea  stood  higher  on  the  land  than  is  now 
the  case.  Of  the  rise  of  the  land,  evidence  is  everywhere  to  be 
seen  ;  old  landmarks  show  thirty  feet. 

After  pulling  up  stream,  he  became  tired ;  so,  in  order  to 
rest,  he  pulled  ashore  and  lay  down.  In  those  days  at  the  place 
where  he  went  ashore  were  large  boulders  in  the  bed  of  the 
stream,  while  on  both  sides  of  the  river  were  many  trees.  While 
resting  by  the  river,  he  heard  a  dreadful  noise  up  stream,  com- 
ing towards  him.  Looking  to  see  what  it  was,  he  was  surprised 
to  behold  all  the  stones  in  the  river  bed  coming  toward  him. 
The  movement  of  the  stones  frightened  him  so  much  that  he 
jumped  to  his  feet  and  ran  into  the  timber.  Here  he  found  he 
had  made  a  mistake,  because  all  the  trees  were  cracking  and 
groaning  ;  all  seemed  to  say  to  him,  "Go  back,  go  back  at  once 
to  the  river,  and  run  as  fast  as  you  can."  This  he  lost  no  time 
in  doing.  When  again  at  the  river,  led  by  his  curiosity ,  he  went 
to  see  what  was  crushing  the  stones  and  breaking  the  trees.  On 
reaching  them,  he  found  that  a  large  body  of  ice  was  coming  down, 
pushing  everything  before  it.  Seeing  this,  he  got  into  his  canoe 
and  fled  toward  home.  Some  time  after  this  adventure  with  the 
ice,  Scannah-gan-nuncus  took  his  trusty  bow  and  quiver  full  of 
arrows  and  went  out  in  order  to  shoot  a  few  birds,  as  well  as  to 
try  and  find  where  the  beautiful  queen  of  the  Cowgans  dwelt. 
Walking  along  the  shore,  he  saw  at  a  distance  what  seemed  to  be 
a  man,  standing  on  shore  at  the  edge  of  the  bush,  looking  at 
him.  Wondering  who  the  stranger  could  be,  he  walked  over  to 
him  and  hailed  him.  Receiving  no  answer,  he  went  up  to  him, 
and  was  surprised  to  find  only  a  stump  having  a  top  like  a  man's 
head.  Turning  to  leave,  a  voice  which  seemed  to  come  from  the 
head  said,  "Don't  go  away;  take  me  down;  take  me  down." 
Hearing  these  words,  he  took  the  stump  in  his  arms,  pulling  it 
down  at  the  same  time.  This  was  a  man  under  enchantment. 
Taking  him  down  broke  the  spell,  and  he  instantly  was  himself 


THE   SCANNAH   TOTEM   AND  STORIES.  69 

again.  When  thus  restored,  he  told  our  hero  that  long  ago  he 
had  been  taking  liberties  with  the  Cowgans,  who,  as  a  punish- 
ment had  cast  upon  him  a  spell.  Under  its  influence  he  was  to 
remain  as  a  stump  until  a  young  man,  who  lived  with  his  grand- 
mother would  come  and  set  him  free,  and  he,  our  hero,  was  the 
welcome  one  predicted. 

The  Cowgans,  or  wood  nymphs,  were  said  to  be  a  number  of 
undeveloped  spirits,  who  always  appeared  as  beautiful  young 
women  and  who  lived  amongst  the  woods  and  mountains.  At 
the  head  of  these  was  a  queen,  remarkable  for  her  beauty,  and 
who  lived  in  a  magnificent  palace  is  some  unknown  locality.  To 
discover  the  palace  and  to  see  the  queen  was  a  thing  permitted 
to  none,  except  to  those  who  could  show  some  good,  unselfish  act 
or  kindness  done.  The  young  men  used  to  go  to  the  woods  and 
mountains  in  order  to  find  her  palace,  from  which  a  great  many 
never  returned,  and  of  this  number  were  the  ten  brothers  of  our 
hero.  These  Cowgans,  it  also  appears,  used  to  seek  the  company 
of  young  men  and  lead  them  on  until  they  took  liberties  with 
them,  and  when  tired  of  their  services  would  turn  them  into 
stumps. 

The  stump  man  asked  our  hero  if  he  would  like  to  see  the 
queen  and  her  palace,  to  which  he  answered,  "Yes."  "Well, 
then,  go  your  way  until  you  find  a  lame  mouse  trying  to  run 
along  a  big  log.  Be  kind  to  it  and  it  will  show  you  where  to  go 
and  what  to  do."  After  leaving  the  stump  man  our  hero  did  not 
go  far  before  he  saw  a  poor  lame  mouse  trying  to  run  along  a  log  ot 
wood.  He  watched  it  for  a  while  and  saw  that  it  would  run 
a  little  way  and  then  fall  off.  Seeing  this,  our  hero  would 
pick  it  up  and  set  it  a  going  again  on  the  log ;  again  it 
would  fall  off.  At  last  it  stopped  trying  and  said  to  our  hero, 
"You  are  a  good  man  and  a  kind  one;  instead  of  killing  me 
when  I  fell  off  the  log,  you  picked  me  up  and  put  me  on  again. 
Many  would  have  run  after  me  and  tried  to  kill  me.  You  are 
Scannah-gan-nuncus  and  you  would  like  to  see  the  beautiful 
queen  of  the  Cowgans.  Your  ten  brothers  also  wished  to 
see  her,  but  they  could  not  because  they  were  bad  men.  They 
ran  after  me  and  tried  to  kill  me.  No  bad  man  can  try  to  kill 
me  and  live  to  see  the  queen.  That  was  why  they  all  disap- 


70  TALES  FROM  THE  HIDERY. 

peared  so  mysteriously.  By  trying  to  put  me  out  of  the  way, 
they  all  got  put  out  themselves.  Now,  come  ;  follow  me,  and  I 
will  show  you  the  queen  and  her  palace."  The  mouse  led  and 
our  hero  followed  through  long  grass,  bushes  and  timber,  until 
they  reached  a  beautiful  country,  where  everything  was  ever  fair 
and  young.  After  traveling  across  this  region  for  some  distance, 
they  came  to  the  palace.  Anything  so  beautiful  Scannah-gan- 
nuncus  never  saw,  nor  ever  could  picture  in  his  imagination. 
"Now,"  said  the  mouse,  "let  us  go  inside  and  I  will  intro- 
duce you  to  the  queen  of  the  Cowgans."  This  it  did,  telling  her 
he  was  a  good  and  kindly  man,  who,  unlike  his  brothers,  did  not 
run  after  the  mouse  to  kill  it,  when  it  fell  off  the  log.  When  they 
found  the  queen,  she  was  sitting  spinning  with  a  wheel.  She  was 
so  pretty  and  so  fair  to  look  upon  that  our  hero  nearly  forgot  him- 
self. The  queen  made  him  welcome,  left  her  spinning  and  came 
and  sat  beside  him,  telling  him  that  as  he  was  a  good  man  he 
was  always  welcome  to  her  palace  and  whenever  he  decided  to 
visit  her,  he  had  only  to  come  to  the  log  and  he  would  always 
find  her  servant,  the  mouse,  who  would  show  him  the  way. 

How  long  he  stayed  with  her  I  have,  as  yet,  been  unable  to 
learn.  Thus  much  I  can  say,  that  his  grandmother  asked  him 
where  he  had  been  so  long.  He  replied  that  while  absent  he  had 
been  where  few  or  none  had  ever  been  before  ;  he  had  visited  the 
queen  of  the  Cowgans  in  her  palace. 

Before  closing  this  paper,  I  find  it  necessary  for  the  proper 
understanding  of  a  few  points  mentioned  therein,  to  say  a  few 
words  drawn  from  my  own  observation  and  research,  and  also 
from  the  report  of  Professor  G.  M.  Dawson  of  the  Canadian  Geo- 
logical Survey,  who  spent  a  part  of  the  summer  of  1898  amongst 
those  islands.  I  wish  particularly  to  draw  the  attention  of  think- 
ing men  and  women  to  our  hero's  encounter  with  the  ice.  Who 
was  the  author  of  this  story,  or  when  it  was  adopted  by  the 
Scannahs,  I  cannot  say.  Doubtless  a  tradition  of  ice  coming 
down  the  Hunnah  was  current  at  the  time  when  the  Scannahs 
chose  that  fish  as  their  crest.  This  event  must  have  happened 
very  early  in  the  settlement  of  these  islands,  for  tradition  says  at 
that  time  only  two  or  three  families  lived  on  the  southeast  side  of 
these  islands,  and  that,  excepting  our  hero  and  his  grandmother, 


THIRD   STORY  OF  THE  SCANNAHS  JI 

who  lived  at  Quilh-cah,  all  the  others  dwelt  in  a  small  village  on 
Maud  Island,  a  mile  and  a  half  west  from  the  others  at  Quilh-cah. 
The  Hunnah  is  a  stream  flowing  eastward  and  southward  until 
it  falls  into  the  Skidegat  Channel  from  the  axial  range  of  moun- 
tains of  these  islands.  Prof.  Dawson  says  that  everywhere  on 
these  islands  we  find  traces  or  evidences  of  the  descent  of  glacier 
ice,  from  the  axial  range  to  the  sea,  and  describes  a  number  of 
valleys  where  the  action  of  ice  on  their  hillsides  is  plainly  shown. 
He  also  showed  from  evidence  given  that  the  final  retreat  of  the 
valley  glaciers  would  seem  to  have  been  pretty  rapid.  A  few 
years  ago  I  took  an  Indian  with  me  up  this  river  valley,  in  order 
to  see  for  myself  the  effects  of  glacial  action.  After  observation, 
I  agreed  with  Dr.  Dawson,  as  well  as  with  tradition,  that  the  re- 
treat of  the  glacier  down  this  valley  from  the  place  of  its  birth  at 
the  head  waters  of  the  Hunnah  must  have  been  pretty  rapid. 
The  great  glacial  period  either  lingered  longer  on  these  islands, 
or  else  a  smaller  glaciation  at  a  later  day  must  have  taken  place. 
It  is  said  when  our  hero  saw  the  queen  she  was  sitting  spin- 
ning with  a  wheel ;  she  must  have  been  making  thread  with  a 
spindle  and  disc.  The  Hidery  used  the  same  means  as  the  In- 
dians in  other  parts  of  America.  Making  thread  for  the  Chillcat 
blankets  is  done  in  the  same  way  to-day. 

THIRD  STORY  OF  THE  SCANNAHS — THE  ADVENTURES  OF  NUCH- 
NOO-SIMGAT,  ETC. 

This  third  story  of  the  Scannah  totem  has  long  been  told  by 
the  Hidery  tribes,  who  borrowed  it  originally  from  the  Simshean 
tribes  on  the  mainland  of  British  Columbia,  in  whose  country  the 
scene  of  the  story  is  laid.  It  is  called  "The  adventures  of  Nuch- 
noo-simgat  in  search  of  his  lost  wife."  The  meaning  of  the 
name  is,  '  'Hear  you  what  I  say  ?' '  The  Hiderys pronounce  it  Nah- 
nah-simgat. 

The  tale  is  as  follows  :  At  the  head  of  a  bay  near  the  present 
town  of  Mithla-kathla,  in  Northern  British  Columbia,  in  by-gone 
days,  stood  a  small  Indian  town  in  which  lived  Nuch-noo-simgat, 
with  his  wife  and  several  other  families.  One  day  a  beautiful 
white  sea  otter  came  into  their  bay  and  swam  about  in  front  of 
the  village.  In  order  to  get  it  for  its  beautiful  white  fur,  all  the 
people  got  their  bows  and  arrows  and  tried  to  shoot  it.  Nuch- 


72  TALES   FROM  THE   HIDERY. 

noo-simgat's  wife,  seeing  what  was  going  on,  called  to  them  to 
be  careful  how  they  shot,  because  they  might  spoil  its  beautiful 
white  fur.  "Shoot  it,"  she  said,  "on  the  end  of  its  tail,  where 
its  skin  won't  be  spoiled."  They  did  so,  got  it  ashore  and 
skinned  it.  When  they  spread  out  the  skin  they  found  a  few 
blood  stains  on  it.  In  order  to  wash  them  off,  Nuch-noo-simgat's 
wife  waded  out  into  the  sea  and  all  the  others  went  home.  Hours 
passed  silently  away  and  no  appearance  of  her  return .  Her  husband 
went  to  look  for  her.  He  found  the  skin  washed  ashore,  but  of  her- 
self nothing  was  either  heard  or  seen.  After  days  of  anxious  and 
fruitless  search,  Nuch-noo-simgat  thought  he  would  visit  a  Skaggy 
(medicine  man),  who  was  clairvoyant.  The  Skaggy  told  him 
that  the  Scannahs  had  got  hold  of  her  and  had  taken  her  home 
with  them  and  that  she  was  then  living  with  the  king  in  his  pal- 
ace, as  his  wife.  So  in  order  to  find  her,  he  had  to  take  two  ser- 
vants along  with  him,  a  martin  and  a  swallow  ;  the  martin  to  go 
on  before  and  smell,  the  swallow  to  fly  about  overhead  and  watch. 
Both  had  to  keep  a  strict  lookout  as  they  went  along,  then  come 
and  report  what  each  had  found.  The  Skaggy  said  they  were 
to  go  on  until  they  found  a  canoe,  in  which  they  were  to  sail  to 
where  they  would  find  two  heads  of  kelp.  From  the  two  heads 
they  would  find  a  road  leading  onward  to  the  house  of  the  Scan- 
nah.  With  these  instructions,  Nuch-noo-simgat  got  the  two  ser- 
vants and  started,  determined  to  find  his  wife,  if  it  should  take 
years.  After  a  long  travel  to  no  purpose,  they  came  to  the  sea 
where  they  found  a  canoe.  Seeing  it,  Nuch-noo-simgat  said,  '  'Let 
us  go  and  try  if  we  can  find  the  kelp,  from  which  the  road  leads 
onward."  After  a  long  sail  they  found  the  two  heads,  where  be- 
tween them  they  tied  the  canoe  and  had  a  consultation.  The 
martin  said,  '  'We  can  only  do  this  ;  you  try  to  find  the  road  and 
I  will  take  care  of  the  canoe  in  your  absence ;  as  for  the  swallow, 
he  can  go  back  and  tell  our  friends."  To  this  they  all  agreed. 
The  swallow  went  home  and  reported  and  as  for  the  others,  the 
martin  took  charge  of  the  canoe,  while  Nuch-noo-simgat  went 
down  under  the  water  in  order  to  find  the  road  leading  to  the  pal- 
ace of  the  king  of  the  Scannahs.  From  the  two  heads  of  kelp  he 
was  able  to  trace  the  road  straight  ahead.  This  he  followed  until 
he  saw  something  moving  about  like  worms  digging  up  roots. 


THIRD  STORY   OF  THE   SCANNAHS.  73 

When  he  drew  nearer  to  them  he  noticed  they  were  a  lot  of  blind 
geese.  While  digging  about  they  jostled  each  other  in  their 
blindness.  This  led  to  quarreling  and  from  that  to  fighting.  As 
he  drew  near,  they  stopped  their  fight  and  all  together  said, 
"Helloa  !  here  comes  Nuch-noo-simgat ;  we  smell  him."  It  was 
then  he  got  his  name.  While  he  was  looking  at  them  fighting, 
he  saw  three  strange  men  coming  along.  When  they  got  where 
he  was  and  entered  into  conversation  with  him,  they  said  they 
were  all  slaves  sent  by  their  master  to  get  some  dry  hemlock. 
During  their  conversation  one  of  the  slaves  said,  "Look  !  there  is 
a  dry  tree.  I  will  go  over  and  see  how  it  looks. ' '  On  reaching 
the  tree,  he  found  it  to  be  old,  dry  and  hollow.  Seeing  this,  he 
went  inside  and  sat  down.  While  there  he  seems  to  have  fallen 
soundly  asleep.  After  a  while  the  other  two  followed  and  began 
to  fell  the  tree.  When  it  was  nearly  down,  one  man  with  a  strong 
blow  sent  his  axe  through  the  tree  right  into  the  mouth  of  the 
sleeper  inside,  who  awoke  and  came  out.  After  felling  it,  they 
all  began  to  cut  it  up  ;  while  doing  so  one  of  them  broke  his  axe. 
Seeing  the  broken  axe,  all  of  them  felt  very  bad,  saying,  "What 
shall  we  do  ?  Our  master  will  be  very  angry  with  us  when  he 
sees  the  broken  axe. ' '  Seeing  their  grief,  Nuch-noo-siragat  said 
to  them,  "I  am  traveling  about,  trying  to  find  my  long  lost  wife  ; 
if  you  will  all  help  me  to  find  her,  I  will  mend  your  broken 
axe. ' '  To  this  proposition  they  all  readily  agreed.  So  Nuch-noo- 
simgat  passed  his  hand  along  the  two  pieces  after  placing  them  to- 
gether ;  after  a  few  passes  their  axe  was  returned  as  good  and 
as  strong  as  ever  it  was.  When  they  saw  it  restored,  they  told 
him  they  knew  where  his  wife  was,  and  for  his  kindly  act  they 
would  take  him  to  her.  They  said  they  would  take  him  to  a 
place  where  there  was  a  fire  and  a  woman  standing  by  it,  warm- 
ing herself.  This  woman  was  his  lost  wife,  but  as  a  long  time 
had  passed  since  she  left,  he  would  not  know  her.  In  order  to 
help  him,  they  said  they  would  put  a  large  kettle  of  water  on 
the  fire,  then  one  of  them  would  get  an  armful  of  wood  and  place 
it  on  the  fire.  While  doing  so,  he  would  throw  himself  down 
and  upset  the  kettle  in  the  fire,  which  would  put  it  out ;  then  all 
he  would  have  to  do  would  be  to  jump  over  and  get  hold  of  the 
woman,  who,  as  soon  as  she  knew  who  he  was,  would  go  home 


74  TALES   FROM  THE  HIDERY. 

with  him,  very  willing  to  leave  her  Scannah  husband,  because 
she  was  his  long  lost  wife.  They  told  him  to  keep  a  good  hold 
of  her,  because  the  Scannahs  might  try  to  keep  her.  If  he  had 
a  good  hold,  they  could  not  take  her  from  him  nor  keep  her  any 
longer. 

Another  version  of  this  tale  is  to  the  effect  that  the  Scannah 
who  took  her  away  gave  her  for  wife  to  another,  whose  name  was 
Scannah-cah-wink-a-dass.  What  the  name  signifies,  I  have  as 
yet  to  ascertain.  The  first  part,  Scannah,  shows  his  connection 
with  the  totem  or  crest  of  that  name.  The  geese,  it  appears,  were 
all  women,  who,  by  some  evil  genii  were  enchanted  and  turned 
into  geese.  These  our  hero  restored  and  the  men  finished  their 
wood-chopping.  After  this  agreement,  all  four,  that  is,  the  three 
men  and  our  hero,  Nuch-noo-simgat,  started  on  the  road  to  the 
house  of  the  Scannah.  Of  the  geese  women,  nothing  more  is 
said.  After  traveling  a  considerable  distance,  they  came  to  where 
a  crane  was  mending  a  canoe.  As  soon  as  he  mended  it 
in  one  part,  he  broke  it  at  another,  this  being  done  for  a  blind, 
as  he  was  watchman  for  the  Scannahs  outside  of  their  abode. 
When  the  crane  saw  the  strangers  approaching,  he  gave  the 
alarm.  After  watching  the  crane  at  work,  they  noticed  he  used 
a  feather  for  drilling  the  holes.  Seeing  the  amount  of  time  wast- 
ed, as  well  as  the  trouble  he  was  taking  in  order  to  make  a  hole, 
they  gave  him  an  iron  drill  and  showed  him  how  to  use  it.  (All 
the  Indians  on  this  northeast  coast  use  drills  to  this  day.  The 
drill  is  used  between  both  hands  ;  motion  is  given  to  it  by  pass- 
ing the  hands  backwards  and  forwards.)  When  the  crane  saw  how 
much  faster  he  could  drill  a  hole  with  an  iron  drill  than  by  the 
old  feather  style,  he  was  very  much  pleased.  As  soon  as  he 
knew  what  they  had  come  so  far  to  obtain,  he  promised  there  and 
then  to  help  them  all  in  his  power,  although  he  was  in  the  service 
of  the  Scannahs, whose  house  was  close  by.  Hearing  their  watch- 
man's alarm,  the  Scannahs  came  in  force  to  his  assistance,  in- 
quiring what  had  happened.  "Oh,"  he  said,  "nothing;  only 
seeing  these  four  men  coming  and  not  knowing  but  that  they 
might  be  foes,  I  gave  the  alarm.  Since  they  came  and  I  know 
who  they  are,  there  is  no  danger  whatever,  because  they  are  all 
my  friends."  So,  hearing  this,  all  the  Scannahs  went  inside,  some- 


THIRD   STORY   OF  THE  SCANNAHS.  75 

what  displeased.  After  all  was  quiet,  the  four  men,  led  by  the 
crane,  went  inside.  The  crane  introduced  them  as  his  dear  friends, 
whom  he  had  not  seen  for  a  long  time.  Inside  of  the  house  was 
a  large  fire.  Along  side  of  it  stood  a  woman,  who,  with  a  few 
others,  was  warming  herself.  In  order  to  cook  a  meal,  one  of  the 
party  got  a  large  kettle,  which  he  filled  with  water  and  placed  on 
the  fire.  A  second  man  went  for  a  few  sticks,  in  order,  he  said, 
to  make  a  good  fire  whereby  to  boil  the  water.  Nuch-noo-simgat 
all  the  while  stood  looking  at  the  woman,  as  well  as  all  around 
the  house,  but  said  not  a  word.  Soon  the  man  returned  with  the 
wood,  which  he  commenced  to  put  on  the  fire.  In  doing  so,  he 
seemed  to  over-balance  himself  and  fell,  upsetting  the  water  into 
the  fire,  making  a  great  dust  and  smoke,  through  which  little 
could  be  seen.  Our  hero,  who  was  prepared  for  this,  jumped  over 
and  grabbed  the  woman  by  her  arms,  holding  her  fast,  saying, 
'  'I  am  your  old  husband ;  I  have  wandered  far  and  wide  in  order 
to  find  you.  Now  that  I  have  succeeded,  you  must  return  home 
with  me;  will  you?"  "I  will,"  she  replied.  The  Scannahs,  be- 
ing completely  taken  by  surprise,  made  no  effort  to  retain  her. 
After  thanking  the  others  for  their  services,  and  bidding  them  all 
keel-slie  (good-bye),  our  hero  and  his  long  lost  wife  started  for 
home.  Returning  by  the  way  he  came,  after  a  while  they  reached 
the  ascent  ending  at  the  two  heads  of  kelp,  up  which  they  went. 
Here  they  found  the  canoe  where  it  had  been  tied,  old  and  rotten. 
On  its  bottom  lay  the  bones  of  the  koo  hoo  (martin)  old  and 
mouldy,  having  long  been  dead.  In  order  to  restore  the  faithful 
koo-hoo,  our  hero  took  from  his  pocket  some  herbs  which  he  al- 
ways had  along  with  him,  in  order  to  meet  any  emergency.  These 
he  chewed  and  squirted  their  juice  over  the  old  bones,  and  under 
its  influence  the  same  old  martin  jumped  up  as  good  as  new.  The 
canoe  also  was  restored  under  the  influence  of  the  same  potent 
herbs,  and  in  it  all  three  pulled  for  the  shore.  Once  more  on  dry 
land,  they  soon  found  the  trail  for  the  old  home,  at  which  in  due 
season  they  all  arrived  in  safety.  There  Nuch-noo-simgat  and 
his  wife  passed  the  remainder  of  their  days  in  peace  and  comfort; 
as  for  Martin,  no  more  has  been  preserved  of  him. 

I  shall  next  give  a  Cowitchian  story  of  how  they  got  fire. 


76  TALES  FROM  THE  HIDERY. 

HOW  THE   WHULL-E-MOOCH   GOT  FIRE — A  LEGBND  OF  THE  COW- 

ITCHIANS. 

Our  fathers  tell  us  that  very  long  ago  the  Whull-e-Mooch 
did  not  know  the  use  of  fire,  nor  had  they  any  occasion  to  use  it, 
their  flesh  meats  being  eaten  either  raw  or  sun  dried.  They  had 
no  use  for  fire  to  warm  themselves  because  they  lived  in  a  warm 
country.  After  awhile  their  climate  grew  colder,  and  they  wished 
for  something  to  warm  the  houses  they  had  to  build  for  warmth 
and  shelter.  Once  upon  a  time  a  number  of  them  were  seated 
around  a  deer  which  they  had  just  found  in  one  of  their  pit  falls. 
While  thus  seated  a  pretty  little  bird  came  and  hovered  around 
above  their  heads,  as  if  either  watching  them  or  looking  for  a 
share  in  the  meat.  Seeing  the  bird  flying  about,  some  tried  to 
kill  it,  while  others  more  kind,  said,  ' '  L,ittle  birdie,  what  do  you 
want  ?' '  To  this  the  birdie  replied,  ' '  I  know  your  wants,  and 
have  come  to  you  bringing  the  blessings  of  fire."  "What 
is  fire,"  asked  all  of  them?  "Do  you,"  said  the  bird,  "see 
that  little  flame  on  my  tail?"  "Yes,"  said  all.  "Well  that," 
said  the  bird,  "is  fire.  To-day  all  of  you  get  together  a  small 
bunch  of  chummuc  (pitch  wood)  wherewith  to  get  the  fire.  To- 
morrow morning  I  will  come  here  early  and  every  one  of  you  meet 
me  here,  bringing  your  chummuc."  Early  next  morning  all 
arrived  at  the  chosen  place,  where  the  bird  was  awaiting  their 
coming.  "Have  you  all  got  your  chummuc?"  said  the  bird. 
"  Yes,"  said  all.  "  Well,  then,"  said  the  bird,  "I  am  ready,  but 
before  I  go  let  me  tell  you,  my  fire  can  only  be  obtained  on  certain 
conditions,  these  conditions  are  perseverance  and  well  doing. 
You  must  strive  for  it  in  order  that  you  may  think  more  of  it,  and 
none  need  to  expect  to  get  it  who  has  not  done  some  good  deed. 
Whosoever  comes  up  with  me  and  puts  his  or  her  chummuc  on 
my  tail,  will  have  the  fire."  "All  ready,"  said  the  bird,  "I  go." 
So  off  it  flew.  All  the  people,  young  and  old,  women  and  chil- 
dren, followed  helter  skelter,  over  rocks  and  fallen  timber, 
through  swamp  and  stream,  wood  lands  and  plains.  Some  got 
hurt,  others  peeled  their  shins,  falling  off  the  rocks  and  over  the 
timber.  Numbers  had  more  than  they  wished  of  mud  and  water. 
Others  were  badly  scratched  and  had  their  clothes  torn  amongst 
the  bushes.  Numbers  turned  and  went  home,  saying  that  anything 


THE   BEAR   AND   PRINCESS.  77 

so  full  of  danger  was  not  worth  trying  for.  Others  gave  out 
through  sheer  fatigue.  Still  the  bird  kept  on.  At  length  a  man 
came  up  to  it,  saying,  "  Pretty  birdie,  give  me  your  fire,  I  have 
kept  up  with  you  and  never  did  anything  bad."  "That  may  be," 
said  the  bird,  '  'yet  you  cannot  have  my  fire,  because  you  are  far 
too  selfish.  You  care  for  nobody  as  long  as  you  are  right  your- 
self." So  away  flew  the  bird.  Another  man  came  up,  saying, 
"  Pretty  birdie,  give  me  your  fire,  I  have  always  been  good  and 
kind."  "  No  doubt,"  said  the  bird,  "you  have,  yet  you  cannot 
have  my  fire,  because  you  stole  your  neighbor's  wife."  Away 
again  flew  the  bird.  By  this  time  few  of  the  people  remained,  all 
having  fallen  behind  in  the  chase.  At  length  the  bird  came  to 
where  a  woman  was  nursing  a  poor  sick  old  man.  It  flew  direct  to 
where  they  were  and  said  to  the  woman,  "Bring  here  your  chum- 
muc  and  get  the  fire."  "  Oh,  no,"  said  the  woman,  "I  cannot  do 
so,  because  I  have  done  nothing  for  it.  What  I  am  doing  is  only 
my  duty."  "  Take  the  fire  and  welcome,"  said  the  bird;  "it  is 
yours,  you  are  always  doing  good,  thinking  it  only  but  your  duty. 
Take  the  fire  and  give  it  to  the  others. "  So  she  put  her  chum- 
muc  on  the  bird's  tail  and  got  the  fire,  from  which  all  the  others 
were  supplied,  and  have  never  since  been  without  a  supply.  This 
is  how,  in  the  long  long  ago,  the  Whull-e-mooch  first  got  fire. 

THE   BEAR   AND   PRINCESS,    A  HIDERY  TAI^E. 

This  tale  I  shall  give  as  it  is  told  by  the  Hidery,  who  seem 
to  have  got  it  from  the  Alaskans.  Many  years  ago  a  house  stood 
in  the  eastern  half  of  the  village  of  Skidegat,  named  cathlings- 
coon.  There  is  a  model  of  this  house  in  the  Field  Columbian 
Museum,  Chicago.  The  figures  on  the  totem  post  in  front  of  it 
are  as  follows :  First  and  lowest,  a  bear  eating  a  boy  who,  as  the 
story  goes,  got  lost  in  the  woods  and  was  found  by  a  hungry  bear, 
who  ate  him  up.  The  second  is  a  sea  otter.  The  third  is  the 
raven.  The  fourth  figure  is  a  scannah  with  its  tail  around  a  woman's 
neck,  the  scannah  being  the  wife's  crest,  the  raven  showing  her 
phratry ;  her  husband's  crest,  being  as  is  shown  at  the  bottom,  a 
bear. 

Connected  with  this  woman  is  a  story;  she  was  a  princess, 
the  daughter  of  a  great  chief.  She  wore  copper  rings  around  her 


78  TALES   FROM   THE   HIDERY. 

ankles.  She  and  her  father,  upon  a  time,  went  to  gather  a  certain 
sort  of  stones.  They  had  not  gone  far  before  they  lost  their  way. 
They  went  on  until  they  came  to  a  man  standing  on  the  road 
with  a  bear  beside  him.  When  they  came  up  the  bear  said 
to  them,  this  is  a  funny  sort  of  a  man,  he  has  bones  and 
hair,  yet  he  is  half  stone.  After  looking  at  the  man  awhile 
the  bear  asked  where  they  were  going.  ' '  To  gather  stones, ' ' 
they  said.  "  Can  I  go  with  you?"  said  the  bear.  "Yes,"  said 
both.  So  they  three  went  on  together,  until  they  came  to  a 
lake  with  a  deep  hole  in  it.  This  hole  was  the  home  of  an  otter 
whom  they  shot  with  bows  and  arrows,  but  having  no  canoe  they 
were  unable  to  get  it.  In  order  to  do  so,  the  old  man  made  a 
canoe,  in  which  they  both  set  out  to  look  for  it.  Sailing  about 
looking  for  it  the  daughter's  hook  got  a  hold  of  what  she  believed 
to  be  the  lost  otter.  But  instead  it  turned  out  to  be  a  scannah, 
her  line  having  dropped  into  the  house  of  the  scannahs,  one  of 
which  came  up  and  tried  to  take  her  down  with  it.  After  getting 
away  from  the  scannah  they  did  not  care  to  stop  any  longer  look- 
ing for  the  otter.  So  they  two  started  for  home,  leaving  the  bear 
to  go  where  he  pleased.  When  they  arrived  at  the  stone  man, 
they  found,  where  he  stood,  nothing  but  hair  and  bones. 

The  model  of  this  house  is  placed  between  the  2cth  and 
26th  in  the  Museum,  I  am  not  sure  which.  The  name  of  the 
house  was  Tau-scho-ass,  that  is,  copper  (with  T)  at  the  door  of 
the  house.  This  was  so  named  because  at  one  time,  long  ago, 
while  all  the  people  living  in  the  house  were  inside,  a  copper 
with  a  T  on  it,  came  flying  into  the  house  and  told  the  peo- 
ple, all  of  them,  to  make  one  like  it.  This  is  how  the  Hidery  at 
first  got  tau-scho,  or  copper-cross  money,  or  as  they  are  erro- 
neously named,  shields. 

There  is  another  story  of  the  bear  and  princess,  or,  not  un- 
likely, another  version  of  the  same  story,  which  is  as  follows : 
lyong  ago,  the  daughter  of  a  great  chief  took  her  basket  and 
went  to  the  woods  and  hills,  in  order  to  gather  berries.  After 
wandering  about  a  long  while  without  finding  any,  she  met  a 
bear.  "Can  you  tell  me,"  she  said  to  the  bear,  "where  I  can 
find  good  berries?"  "Yes,"  said  the  bear,  pointing  to  a  pile  of 
berries,  "there  is  plenty  of  them;  pick  them  up."  This  she  was 


THE   BEAR   AND   PRINCESS.  79 

in  no  hurry  to  do,  disliking  their  filthy  appearance.  Just  then 
three  men  came  along.  Seeing  her  with  the  basket,  they  asked 
her  if  she  was  out  picking  berries.  "Yes,"  she  replied,  "and  I 
wish  you  would  show  me  where  I  can  fill  my  basket  with  good 
ones."  "The  bear,"  she  said,  "wants  me  to  take  these,"  (point- 
ing down  to  the  mess  on  the  ground),  "and  I  can't  get  away 
from  him."  "Come  along  with  us  and  we  will  not  only  show  you 
where  you  can  get  plenty  of  berries,  but  we  will  take  you  away 
from  the  bear,  as  well. ' '  So  they  took  her  along  with  them  to 
where  there  were  lots  of  fine  large  and  ripe  ones.  Here  they 
left  her  and  went  along  on  their  journey,  wishing  her  good  luck. 
After  picking  alone,  she  came  to  an  old  man,  who  was  also  pick- 
ing wild  fruits.  Being  glad  of  each  other's  company,  they 
picked  along  together  until  their  baskets  were  nearly  full.  Just 
then  she  saw  the  bushes  shaking  a  little  way  off,  and  to  her  sur- 
prise, out  came  the  bear.  Glad  of  the  old  man's  company,  she 
told  him  her  troubles  with  the  bear.  "Never  mind,"  he  replied, 
"the  bear  cannot  hurt  you  while  I  am  here.  Now  that  our  bas- 
kets are  full,  we  will  go  home,  after  filling  our  water  boxes ;  we 
will  also  take  a  few  stones  with  us,  beside  the  water. ' '  Having 
everything  ready,  they  together  started  homeward  and  had  not 
gone  far  before  the  bear  was  seen  running  after  them.  "Now," 
said  the  old  man  to  the  girl,  '  'throw  one  of  the  stones  backward 
over  your  head  and  await  the  result."  As  soon  as  the  stone 
touched  the  ground,  up  sprang  a  high  mountain  between 
them  and  the  bear.  This  gave  his  bearship  a  high  mountain  to 
climb  up  and  over,  while  to  them  yet  remained  the  level 
country.  By  this  means  they  got  far  ahead  of  the  bear, 
who  did  not  again  come  near  them  for  several  days.  When  he 
did,  the  old  man  said  to  the  girl,  '  'Throw  some  water  behind  you. ' ' 
This  she  did  and  water  flowed  out  of  the  ground,  which  soon 
formed  a  large  and  deep  lake  over  which  the  bear  could  not  get, 
and  no  more  was  seen  of  him.  As  for  the  old  man  and  princess, 
they  got  home  without  further  annoyance. 

I  shall  next  give  a  few  stories  from  the  mortuary  columns  of 
the  Hidery. 


80  TALES  FROM   THE   HIDERY. 

MEELAS'    TOMB. 

Amongst  all  of  the  Northern  Indian  nations  in  British  Co- 
lumbia and  Alaska  it  was  customary  for  a  person,  man  or  woman, 
to  have  a  memorial  raised  by  their  relations  showing  the  social 
standing  of  the  party  in  his  or  her  own  village,  or  their  connec- 
tion, if  any,  with  a  neighboring  one.  Often  a  person  would  have 
his  or  her  tomb  raised  years  before  death.  Often,  if  a  person 
died  and  was  buried  away  from  home,  a  tomb  was  raised  to  his 
memory  in  his  native  village.  Sometimes  the  tomb  was  made  in 
the  shape  of  the  crest  of  the  party;  for  example,  if  the  crest  of 
the  party  was  a  fin-back  whale,  then  the  tomb  was  a  fin- 
back whale;  if  a  whale,  the  head  was  placed  in  the  ground  with 
the  tail  upward.  Often  a  hole  was  made  to  represent  the  throat 
of  the  fish.  Then  a  hole  was  made,  giving  access  to  the  inside, 
and  a  block  of  wood  was  fitted  to  close  up  the  hole.  When  the 
party  died  this  block  was  taken  out  and  the  body  placed  inside, 
then  the  block  was  replaced  and  firmly  fastened,  and,  last  of  all, 
the  body  was  left  to  decay.  Seven  or  more  models  of  tombs  were 
shown  at  the  late  Fair,  and  doubtless  are  still  to  be  seen  in  the 
Museum.  The  first  model  on  the  south  end  of  the  Model  Village 
was  one  of  these  tombs  in  the  shape  of  a  fish.  The  last  one  on  the 
north  end  is  the  subject  of  the  following  story: 

Sometime  in  the  early  seventies  there  was  raised  in  the 
grave-yard  at  Skidegat,  a  mortuary  column  to  the  memory  of 
Meelas,  a  young  Hidery,  a  native  of  Skidegat  town.  This 
tomb  is  twenty-five  feet  in  height,  and  still  stands — 1897.  The 
carving  on  it  is  as  follows:  First,  a  salmon,  and  close  above  it  a 
boy's  head.  Further  up,  a  fishing  net  is  shown.  Perched  on 
top  of  this  column  is  an  eagle.  This  eagle  shows  his  connection 
with  the  eagle  crest  and  phratry.  As  this  eagle  has  no  bearing  on 
my  story,  I  shall  say  no  more  about  it — only  of  the  net,  the  boy 
and  the  salmon.  This  young  man  Meelas  made  the  acquaintance 
of  a  young  Indian,  of  his  own  age,  who  was  a  native  of  a  village 
on  a  large  river  in  British  Columbia  named  Skeena.  This  Skee- 
na  Indian  (I  never  knew  his  name)  invited  Meelas  to  live  with 
him  on  the  Skeena.  This  he  did;  and  three  years  passed  before 
he  returned  to  his  native  Queen  Charlotte  Island.  While  living 
on  the  Skeena  his  friend,  who  belonged  to  the  secret  society  of 


THE  STORY  OF  MEELAS.  8 1 

the  Salmon,  had  Meelas  initiated  into  his  society.  His  initiation 
entitled  Meelas  to  have  a  mortuary  column  with  the  above  men- 
tioned carvings,  and  the  following  story: 

THE  STORY. 

Long  ago  an  Indian  family  lived  in  a  village  on  the  banks  of 
the  Skeena.  How  many  in  the  family  there  were,  tradition  has 
not  preserved,  one  boy,  the  hero  of  our  story,  only  being  men- 
tioned. One  time  his  father  made  him  a  present  of  a  nice  copper 
collar  to  wear  around  his  neck.  After  wearing  it  several  years, 
he  suddenly  disappeared.  In  order  to  find  him  his  parents,  joined 
by  all  the  neighbors,  searched  for  him  everywhere,  without  suc- 
cess. Finally  tired  and  disheartened  they  all  gave  up  the  search, 
expecting  never  again  to  see  him  alive.  Even  his  father,  al- 
though unwilling  to  give  up  the  search,  finally  had  to  follow 
suit.  When  any  one  spoke  of  him  it  was  of  the  boy  who  went 
away  and  never  returned.  Although  his  parents  had  given  over 
the  search,  they  still  fondly  hoped  to  find  him,  believing  him  still 
to  be  alive.  While  cherishing  these  hopes,  little  did  they  deem 
that  in  a  strange  way  he  was  yet  to  be  restored  to  them.  Winter, 
like  other  winters  before,  with  their  snows  and  rains,  had  come 
and  gone.  Summer  once  more  had  returned,  bringing  along 
with  it  leaves,  and  flowers,  and  salmon  to  the  rivers.  In  order 
to  have  a  change  of  diet,  the  old  man  one  day  took  a  fish  net  and 
placed  it  in  the  river.  After  awhile  he  hauled  it  in  and  found  a 
good  sized  salmon.  This  he  quickly  took  home  to  his  wife.  In 
order  to  prepare  it  for  dinner,  as  is  generally  done,  she  com- 
menced to  cut  off  its  head.  To  her  surprise,  she  found  while 
cutting  around  its  neck,  a  copper  collar.  This  discovery  led  to 
an  investigation,  which  ended  in  the  restoration  of  their  long  lost 
son,  who  by  the  enchantment  of  some  evil  genii  had  been  turned 
into  a  salmon  and  placed  in  the  river.  In  order  to  resuscitate 
him  the  old  man  went  into  the  timber,  where  he  gathered  a  few 
sprigs  of  a  very  potent  herb.  These  he  dried  before  the  fire  and 
rubbed  into  a  powder  between  his  hands.  This  he  blew  over  the 
fish.  It  broke  the  spell  and  liberated  the  boy,  who  was  thus  re- 
stored to  his  parents  as  good  as  when  new. 

I  shall  next  give  the  story  of  Skaggy  Bealus,  a  re- 
markable story  of  the  Hidery. 


82  TALES   FROM  THE   HIDERY. 

THE  STORY   OF  BEALUS. 

During  the  greater  part  of  1869  and  the  spring  of  1870,  I, 
along  with  fourteen  others,  had  a  long  stay  on  Queen  Charlotte 
Islands  amongst  the  Hidery.  We  were  employed  building  a 
tramway  in  order  to  ship  coal.  When  we  got  under  way,  we 
found  it  necessary  to  add  fifteen  Indians  to  our  number,  in  order 
to  clear  away  the  timber  before  the  graders.  These  Indians 
built  themselves  houses  along  the  north  shore  of  the  bay,  at 
whose  head  stood  the  house  in  which  we  lived.  In  the  third  or 
fourth  house  of  the  row  to  the  left  of  us,  I  noticed  that  an 
Indian  ceremony  wras  performed  often  nightly,  if  not,  at  short 
intervals.  These  ceremonies  were  generally  kept  up  till  mid- 
night, often  till  near  day -break,  and  almost  every  meeting  ended 
with  a  weird,  mournful  song.  What  they  were  doing,  and  their 
song,  I  wished  very  much  to  know,  but  was  unable  to  learn  for 
some  time.  All  I  could  get  from  them  in  answer  to  my  ques- 
tion was,  ' '  We  are  talking  to  our  dead  relations. ' '  To  me  that 
was  very  unsatisfactory.  At  that  time  there  was  quite  a 
number  of  boys  and  girls  in  our  small  village,  and  these  young 
folks  and  I  were  fast  friends  because  I  used  to  give  them  rides 
on  an  ox-sleigh  I  had  for  hauling  ties  for  the  rails.  From  them 
I  not  only  learned  all  I  wished  to  know,  but  also  got  an  invita- 
tion to  their  meetings,  that  I  was  to  be  sure  and  come  on  a  given 
night  because  on  that  night  a  great  doctor  was  to  be  there  from 
the  neighboring  tribe  of  Gumshewa,  whose  name  was  Tow-a-tee. 
On  the  given  night  I  went  after  supper,  and  some  of  the  young 
folks  who  had  been  looking  for  my  coming  met  me  at  the  door 
and  showed  me  to  a  seat.  As  soon  as  I  had  time  to  look  about 
me  I  found  the  following:  There  were  about  twenty-five  people 
of  both  sexes  in  the  house.  They  were  all  squatted  on  the  floor 
in  a  horse-shoe  circle.  Each  had  a  stick  in  his  or  her  hand  with 
which  they  all  beat  time,  on  a  board  in  front  of  them,  to  a  song. 
Inside  of  the  broad  end  of  the  circle  a  fire  was  kept  burning. 
Within  the  narrow  end  of  the  circle  sat  Tow-a-tee.  He  would 
talk  awhile  and  every  one  would  listen.  When  he  stopped,  they 
all  commenced  to  sing.  I  noticed  that  every  time  he  spoke  his 
voice  was  different.  This  seance,  for  such  it  was,  they  kept  up 
till  one  o'clock,  when  they  finished  by  singing  the  same  weird 


A   SKAGGY    OR    MEDICINE    MAN. 


A    DISH   WITH  CARVINGS   OF  TWO  DOCTORS. 


THE   STORY   OF   BEAIAJS.  83 

song.  Next  day  I  made  inquiry  as  to  the  signification  of  the 
whole  affair,  and  was  told  the  following:  One  year  before  a 
large  number  of  these  people  had  died  of  small-pox.  When  any 
one  dies  the  women  blacken  their  faces  and  never  clean  them 
again  for  one  year.  Toward  the  close  of  the  year  they  have  a 
seance,  at  which  those  who  die  of  the  small-pox,  for  whom  they 
have  mourned  a  year,  control  the  medium,  and  give  their  several 
experiences  since  they  entered  spirit  life.  In  answer  to  the 
question,  if  they  were  happy  and  if  they  would  like  to  return  to 
earth  life,  each  one  replied  they  were  perfectly  happy  and  would 
not  return  to  earth  life  if  they  could,  and  that  it  was  needless 
to  mourn  for  them  any  longer.  Such  was  the  sum  and  substance 
of  that  night's  seance.  Next  day  every  one  had  clean  faces. 

With  regard  to  the  song,  the  Hidery  say  their  fathers  learned 
it  ages  ago  from  a  great  medicine  man  (Skaggy) whose  name  was 
Bealus.  He  was  a  man  of  a  fair  complexion  and  had  considerable 
of  a  beard.  He  taught  them  a  great  many  useful  things  and 
always  told  them  to  love  and  be  kind  to  each  other,  and  try  and 
stop  all  intertribal  wars.  If  they  did  so,  they  would  become 
great  as  a  people,  and  others  would  respect  them.  If  not,  they 
would  become  few  in  number,  and  at  last  a  fair-skinned  people 
from  the  rising  sun  would  take  possession  of  their  country  and 
finally  their  individuality  would  be  lost  in  the  others.  When 
these  people  came  they  were  to  be  kind  to  them  and  trade  with 
them,  because  they  would  give  them  a  new  sort  of  food  and 
better  implements  than  their  old  stone  ones.  The  Hidery  say 
we  settlers  are  the  fair  people  and  the  new  food  is  our  flour  or 
biscuits,  while  our  axes  and  the  iron  adzes  or  tools  traded  by  the 
people  who  visited  them  toward  the  close  of  the  last  century  are 
the  new  implements.  After  living  amongst  them  many  years 
Bealus  told  them  he  was  soon  to  leave  them  and  at  the  end  of  a 
year  he  would  return  and  never  again  leave.  So  one  day  he  left 
suddenly.  No  one  knew  where  he  went.  At  the  end  of  a  year 
he  reappeared  as  suddenly  as  he  left.  After  he  returned,  he 
lived  to  be  so  old,  so  says  the  tradition,  that  excepting  his  back- 
bone all  the  rest  of  his  body  was  so  shriveled  that  he  could  not 
use  it,  his  back-bone  only  being  fresh.  His  whole  life  was  spent 
in  teaching  them  what  was  useful  and  good  and  to  love  and  to 


84  TALES  FROM  THE  HIDERY. 

be  kind  to  each  other.  In  fact,  it  is  said  that  the  last  words  he 
was  heard  to  say  were,  ' '  I,ove  one  another. ' '  He  also  told  them 
that  a  sickness  would  come  among  them  by  which  large  numbers 
would  die.  He  taught  them  a  song  or  rather  a  lament  for  their 
dead  relations  and  every  time  they  had  a  communication  with 
their  relations  in  the  better  land  they  were  to  finish  the  sitting 
by  singing  it.  I  am  heartily  sorry  that  I  am  unable  to  give 
either  the  words  or  the  music,  for  any  thing  so  sad  and  mournful 
in  the  midnight  hours  I  never  heard.  So  much  did  it  affect  me 
that  I  could  not  keep  from  tears.  The  Skaggy  Tow-a-tee  came 
by  request  and  each  family  who  lost  relations  gave  him  for  his 
service  six  blankets  of  the  value  of  one  hundred  dollars,  so  after 
three  days  stay  and  a  few  more  seances  he  packed  up  and  left 
for  home. 

THE  DOOM  OP  THE  KATT-A-QUINS,  A  LEGEND  OF  ALASKA. 

The  following  story  I  obtained  during  the  summer  of  1882, 
while  collecting  the  Folk-Lore  of  the  Southern  Alaskan  tribes. 
The  Stickeen,  from  whom  I  had  this  story,  live  at  the  town  of 
Wrangle,  near  the  mouth  of  the  Stickeen,  a  large  river  which 
rises  in  British  Columbia,  and  after  flowing  through  Alaska,  falls 
into  the  sea  as  already  mentioned.  "Sticks"  is  the  name  given  by 
the  white  settlers  to  the  Indians  of  the  interior  and  keen  is  the 
Thlingat  for  river  or  water ;  therefore,  the  term  signifies  the  peo- 
ple living  on  the  Sticks'  river.  Every  summer  these  coast  Indians 
go  up  the  river  to  trade  and  at  the  same  time  lay  in  their  winter 
stock  of  salmon  ;  for,  regularly  every  season,  in  order  to  deposit 
their  spawn,  these  fish  run  up  this  river  and  its  tributaries.  Not 
only  do  they  go  to  fish,  but  also  to  meet  the  Sticks,  who  bring 
down  their  furs  in  order  to  trade.  Over  one  hundred  miles  up 
this  river  is  a  large  flat,  with  considerable  open  land.  On  this 
flat  stand  a  few  houses,  belonging  to  the  chief  of  the  coast  tribe, 
who,  like  his  fathers,  on  becoming  chief  took  the  name  of  Shakes. 
Consequently,  the  name  of  this  small  town  was  Shakes-heit,  that 
is,  Shakes'  house.  At  this  place  most  of  the  trading  was  done, 
although  the  coast  tribes  often  visited  the  others  in  their  own 
country.  Several  miles  above  this  town  was  another  large  flat, 
on  which  the  wild  fruits  used  by  these  people  grew  in  great  abun- 
dance. To  this  flat,  during  the  summer  months,  they  used  to 


THE   DOOM   OF  THE   KATT-A-QUINS.  85 

come  and  get  a  supply  of  these  fruits,  which  they  dried  and 
stored  for  winter  consumption.  Along  the  side  of  this  flat  the 
river  runs  in  a  straight  line  for  a  quarter  of  a  mile,  turning  sud- 
denly to  the  right  on  the  upper  end  and  in  the  same  manner  to  the 
left  at  the  lower  end  of  the  flat.  In  a  line,  across  the  flat  and 
the  river,  stands  a  number  of  rocks,  two  large  ones  and  three  or 
four  smaller  ones.  Excepting  the  two  larger  ones,  which  stand 
in  the  middle  of  the  river,  and  one  on  the  shore,  all  the  others 
are  on  the  level  land  beyond.  The  lesser  ones  are  shaped  like 
pillows,  while  the  two  larger  ones  vary  a  little  and  assume  some- 
thing of  a  triangular  form.  These  rocks  appear  so  strange  that 
it  is  impossible  for  anyone  to  pass  up  or  down  the  river  by  canoe 
or  steamer,  without  wishing  to  stay  and  examine  them  closely. 
A  geologist  or  a  student  of  natural  history  would  have  little  dif- 
ficulty in  solving  the  problem  and  explaining  why  the  rocks 
stand  as  they  do,  like  stepping-stones  for  some  giant  to  cross. 
He  would  see  that  the  rock,  which  on  one  side  forms  the  river 
bank  and  bounds  the  plain,  formerly  extended  across,  making  a 
lake  above,  with  an  outlet  and  waterfall  over  this  ledge,  which 
by  some  upheaval,  probably,  had  blocked  up  the  river,  forming 
the  above  mentioned  lake,  in  which  had  been  deposited  an  im- 
mense amount  of  sediment  brought  down  from  up  river.  By  and 
by,  through  advancing  ages,  the  river  in  its  downward  flow, 
laden  with  ice  in  the  spring  and  with  timber  and  sediment  in  the 
summer,  would  wash  away  this  barrier,  leaving  here  and  there  a 
few  patches  of  harder  rock,  which,  finally,  by  the  continued 
action  of  the  water,  became  rounded  into  their  present  shape. 
As  a  natural  consequence,  the  weakest  part  of  this  barrier  would 
give  way  first,  which  would  drain  the  lake  and  gradually  form  a 
new  channel  for  the  river,  leaving  the  other  portion  dry,  with  its 
pillar-like  rocks,  whence  the  origin  of  this  large  strip  of  flat  land 
and  these  strange  rocks.  If  any  person  had  been  on  this  river, 
as  I  was  in  1862,  and  had  asked  any  of  the  Indians  how  these 
rocks  came  to  be  there,  the  answer  would  have  been:  "These 
stones  are  Katt-a-quin  and  his  family."  If  asked  who  this  per- 
son was,  they  would  have  given  the  following  legend,  long  pre- 
served among  this  people,  together  with  many  other  tales  : 

Katt-a-quin  was  a  chief  among  the  Thlingat.    He  lived  very 


86  TALES   FROM  THE   HIDERY. 

long  ago,  our  fathers  tell  us,  so  long  that  no  man  can  count  the 
time  by  moons  nor  by  snows,  but  by  generations.  He  was  a  bad 
man,  the  worst  that  ever  lived  among  our  people.  Not  only 
were  he  himself  and  wife  bad,  but  the  whole  family  were  like 
him.  They  were  feared  and  shunned  by  every  one,  even  by 
little  children,  who  would  run  screaming  away  when  any  of  the 
party  came  near.  Nothing  seemed  to  give  them  so  much  pleas- 
ure as  the  suffering  of  other  people.  Dogs  they  delighted  to 
torture  and  tore  their  young  ones  to  pieces.  Most  people  love 
and  fondle  a  nice  fat  little  puppy,  not  so  the  Katt-a-quin 
family  ;  when  they  got  a  nice  puppy  it  was  destroyed  by  hunger 
and  ill  usage.  When  the  people  met  their  neighbors  from 
above,  at  Shakes-heit,  if  Katt-a-quin  came  there,  he  generally 
spoiled  the  market  and  if  he  could  not  get  what  he  wanted  by 
fair  means  he  would  take  it  by  force.  The  people,  seeing  this, 
would  pack  up  and  leave.  So  tired  had  they  grown  of  the 
family  that  the  rest  of  the  tribe  had  decided  to  make  them  all 
leave  the  village, or, failing  in  that,  endeavor  to  get  clear  of  them 
by  some  other  means.  But  before  doing  anything  of  that  sort, 
they  were  delivered  in  a  way  terrible  and  unthought  of.  From 
old  versions  of  this  story,  it  appears  that  the  people  had  become 
so  disgusted  with  the  family  that  when  they  wished  to  go 
hunting,  or  to  gather  wild  fruits,  they  would  strictly  conceal 
their  object  and  the  direction  of  their  journey  from  those  whom 
they  disliked.  One  morning,  while  all  were  staying  at  Shakes- 
heit,  they  made  up  their  minds  to  go  to  the  large  flat,  where 
these  rocks  now  stand,  and  gather  a  stock  of  wild  fruits  for 
winter  use.  So,  in  order  that  none  of  the  Katt-a-quins  might 
come,  they  all  left  early  and  quietly.  When  the  others  got  up, 
which  was  far  from  early,  as  they  were  a  lazy  lot,  and  found 
that  they  were  left  alone,  they  were  displeased  at  not  being 
asked  to  go  along  with  the  others.  After  a  time  they  all  got 
into  a  canoe  and  went  up  the  river  in  order  to  find  the  rest, 
which,  after  a  while,  they  did  by  finding  their  canoes  hauled  up 
on  shore.  After  this  they  also  landed  and  began  to  pluck 
berries,  but,  finding  that  the  people  who  preceded  them  had 
secured  the  best  of  the  fruit,  they  gave  up  picking  in  disgust  and 
were  seated  on  the  shore  when  the  others  returned,  having,  as 


THE   DOOM   OF  THE   KATT-A-QUINS.  87 

might  be  expected,  plenty  of  fine  fruit.  Seeing  that  the  others 
had  a  fine  supply,  and  they,  themselves,  nothing  but  sour,  unripe 
stuff,  they  asked  for  a  few,  which  the  others  gave  them,  at  the 
same  time  saying  they  should  not  be  so  lazy,  as  they  also  might 
have  got  their  share  of  good  ones.  After  awhile,  the  old  fellow 
demanded  some  more  of  their  best  fruit.  This,  the  people  flatly 
refused,  saying  the  late  comers  ought  to  go  picking  for  them- 
selves. Just  then,  a  number  of  the  first  party,  who  had  gone  in 
another  direction,  returned  with  baskets  full  of  nice  large  and 
ripe  fruit.  Seeing  this,  the  whole  family  of  the  Katt-a-quins  went 
and  demanded  all.  This,  the  others  refused,  saying  they  had 
no  idea  of  toiling  all  day,  gathering  fruit  for  such  a  worth- 
less lazy  set  as  they  were.  A  scuffle  began,  which  ended  in  the 
family  upsetting  all  the  fruit  and  trampling  it  under  foot  in  the 
sand,  thus  destroying  the  proceeds  of  a  long  and  hard  day's  work. 
Seeing  all  this,  the  people  made  a  rush,  some  for  their  bows 
and  arrows,  others  arming  themselves  with  whatever  came  to 
hand,  all  determined  to  wreak  vengeance  on  those  who  had  caused 
the  destruction  of  the  proceeds  of  their  day's  labor,  and  whom  all 
disliked.  Seeing  this  turn  of  affairs  and  the  determination  of  the 
people,  the  offenders  knew  that  their  only  safety  lay  in  getting 
aboard  their  canoes  and  going  down  the  river  before  the  others 
could  follow  them.  This  they  did,  leaving  in  their  hurry  two  or 
three  of  their  children  behind.  As  soon  as  they  reached  the  mid- 
dle of  the  river,  a  new  and  terrible  retribution  befell  them. 
Yethel,  the  raven  god,  who  had  been  watching  their  conduct,  in 
an  instant  turned  them  all  into  these  stones  and  placed  them 
where  they  now  stand,  to  be  an  eternal  warning  to  evil  doers. 
The  largest  stone  is  Katt-a-quin ;  the  next  is  his  wife,  and  the 
smaller  ones  on  the  land  and  in  the  water  are  their  children. 
What  is  seen  is  only  their  bodies,  turned  to  stone ;  their  souls, 
which  can  never  die,  were  sent  to  See-wuck-cow,  there  to  remain 
for  ages,  or,  until  such  time  as  they  shall  make  reparation  for 
the  evil  done  by  them  while  in  the  body.  Afterwards,  they  will 
all  ascend  to  Kee-wuck-cow,  a  better  land.  Such  was  the  doom 
of  the  Katt-a-quin.  "As  our  fathers  told  us  the  story,"  said  the 
Thlingat,  "so  have  I  told  it  to  you." 


88  TALES   FROM   THE   HIDERY. 

REMARKS   ON  THE  ABOVE. 

According  to  the  ideas  of  the  ancient  Southern  Alaskans, 
when  a  person  died  a  natural  death  or  was  killed  for  his  mis- 
deeds, his  soul  was  sent  to  a  cold,  desolate  country,  or  a  condition 
called  See-wuck-cow,  there  to  remain  until  he  was  sorry  for  his 
bad  deeds  and  wished  to  make  reparation  for  them.  Then  he 
would  go  to  a  better  land  above,  called  Kee-wuck-cow,  life 
above.  Those  who  fell  in  battle,  fighting  for  their  homes 
and  country,  always  went  to  Kee-wuck-cow. 


HOUSES  AND  TOTEM    POSTS. 


APPENDIX.  89 


TOTEM  POSTS  AT  THE  WORLD'S  FAIR. 


(Reprinted  from  the  AMERICAN  ANTIQUARIAN,  Vol.  XV.,  p.  281.) 


According  to  promise,  I  send  you  a  short  description  of  the 
carved  columns  or  totem  posts  in  front  of  the  Haida  house  at  the 
end  of  the  south  pond  in  the  Columbian  Exposition  grounds. 
Properly  considered  there  are  only  four  Haida  columns  in  Jack- 
son Park,  for  the  other  four,  although  used  very  much  for  the 
same  purpose  as  the  columns,  are  of  a  different  style  and  were 
used  by  a  widely  different  people.  While  giving  a  description  of 
the  carved  ones,  I  shall  begin  at  the  one  on  the  north  of  the 
house,  and  go  south.  For  the  information  of  your  readers,  a 
correct  reading  of  not  only  this  totem  pole,  but  of  the  others  also, 
I  will  send  you  as  near  as  I  am  able  a  definite  interpretation  of 
each  figure.  The  inscription  alongside  of  this  column  reads 
thus  :  Totem  pole  or  heraldic  column  of  the  Tsiw  Indians.  The 
figures  represent,  counting  from  below  upward,  as  follows  :  first, 
the  raven;  second,  dogfish;  third,  man;  fourth,  wolf;  fifth,  the 
killer  whale,  and,  sixth,  eagle.  On  the  above  mentioned  column, 
reading  from  below,  the  first  is  the  carving  of  an  Indian  with  his 
head  encircled  by  feathers.  This  represents  the  party  to  whom 
belonged  the  house  in  front  of  which  this  column  stood.  The 
second  figure  is  the  raven,  called  by  these  people  Cauch.  This, 
the  raven,  is  the  phratry  or  principal  crest,  along  with  the  eagle 
phratry  of  all  these  people.  The  next  is  the  dogfish,  which  along 
with  the  raven  phraty,  was  the  crest  of  the  man  who  had  this 
house  built  for  himself.  The  third  figure  is  a  man,  perhaps  de- 
signed to  represent  the  man  whose  portrait  this  was,  and  to  show 
that  he  belonged  to  the  tribe  amongst  whom  the  house  was  built. 
By  saying  this  I  take  a  Haida  standpoint;  with  the  Simshians  it 
may  be  different,  although  I  hardly  think  so.  The  next  or 


90  TALES  FROM  THE  HIDERY. 

fourth  figure  above  is  a  wolf.  This  is  the  crest  of  the  wolf  gens 
or  crest.  How  it  came  to  be  placed  there  I  can  hardly  say.  This 
much  I  know :  it  showed  a  connection  with  that  crest,  or,  in 
other  words,  a  connection  between  the  party  who  built  this  house 
and  the  clan  bearing  the  wolf  crest.  The  fifth  figure  is  a  woman 
with  head-dress,  and  is  evidently  a  figure  of  the  housewife. 
Above  her  is  the  figure  of  a  killer  or  fin-back  whale,  with  two 
young  ones,  one  on  each  side  of  its  mouth.  The  sixth  figure  is 
the  crest  of  the  wife.  The  young  ones  show  her  to  have  had  a 
family,  which,  like  herself,  would  have  the  whale  crest.  The 
next  or  seventh  figure  is  that  of  a  woman,  showing  that  the  wife 
was  connected  by  birth  with  the  tribe  in  which  she  lived.  The 
upper  or  last  figure  is  the  eagle,  and  designates  the  phratry  to 
which  she  belonged.  This  column  was  part  of  a  house  which 
stood  in  an  Indian  town  on  Naas  River,  British  Columbia.  It 
was  sent  by  a  Mrs.  Morrison,  an  exceedingly  intelligent  half 
caste,  her  mother  being  a  native  Simshian. 

The  second  column,  the  one  at  the  middle  of  the  Haida 
house,  is,  of  course,  different,  as  it  is  a  Haida  column.  This 
house  formerly  stood  in  the  middle  of  the  Haida  Indian  village 
of  Skidegat's  Town,  so  called  from  its  chief  always  taking  the 
title  of  Skidegat.  His  house  belongs  to  a  man  whose  name  for- 
merly was  Chooeah,  or  raven.  After  the  death  of  an  uncle,  his 
mother's  brother,  he  inherited  the  uncle's  property,  and  conse- 
quently took  the  uncle's  name,  which  was  Clads-ah-Coon.  This 
house  was  first  house  in  village  belonging  to  the  Cathlans-coon- 
hadry  (point  of  the  waves  people) ,  who  came  and  settled  in  the 
town  of  Illth-cah-getla  (hut  between  streams)  called  Skidegat's 
Town,  as  above  mentioned.  These  people  were  driven  from 
their  home  by  tidal  waves  and  by  ravages  of  war.  When  they 
came  to  Skidegat  they  lived  all  together  by  building  their  houses 
in  a  row;  their  descendants  live  all  together  in  same  style  to-day. 
The  figures  on  the  post  are:  lowest,  the  bear  with  man's  head 
downward;  second  is  the  spout-fish  (lown);  on  each  side  of  it  is 
the  chemouse  of  the  Simshians,  which  is  a  symbolization  of  a 
river  snag,  a  floating  snag  or  often  a  tree.  To  an  Indian  sailing 
down  the  rapid  streams  of  the  Pacific  slope  these  snags  are  dan- 
gerous, and  a  superstitious  dread  has  painted  them  as  monsters 


APPENDIX.  91 

of  the  worst  kind;  so,  in  order  to  be  safe,  they  adopted  them  as 
a  crest.  The  Haida  tribes  borrowed  this  crest  from  these  Sim- 
shians.  The  next  figure  is  a  head  with  large  eyes.  It  is  shown 
as  holding  on  with  its  mouth  to  the  tail  of  the  lown.  This  is  the 
head  of  a  bear  as  is  shown  by  the  tan  gue  (bear's  ears)  placed  on 
each  side  of  the  head.  From  this  head  upward  is  a  large  dog- 
fish. It  is  shown  as  having  a  woman  on  its  back.  Above  the 
woman's  head  is  another  bear's  head,  with  tan  gue.  Above  all 
is  the  tail  of  the  dog-fish,  shown  between  two  little  images.  The 
following  I  consider  to  be  a  correct  reading  of  the  carvings  on 
this  post  :  First,  the  bear  with  a  man's  head  downward;  amongst 
the  natives  of  southern  Alaska  this  symbolized  a  strange  custom. 
When  any  one  built  a  house  a  slave  was  killed  and  his  blood 
sprinkled  on  the  post,  his  body  generally  being  buried  beneath 
it,  the  bear  on  the  post  being  the  crest  of  the  man  who  built  the 
house  and  the  man  being  the  slave  who  was  killed.  I  have  been 
unable  to  find  that  such  a  thing  as  killing  a  slave  for  such  a 
purpose  was  ever  done  amongst  the  Haida.  In  this  case  I  speak 
knowingly,  as  I  helped  to  dig  up  the  post,  and  I  found  that  no 
slave  had  ever  been  buried  there.  In  fact  the  man  who  built  the 
house  says  he  killed  no  slave. 

There  are  two  stories  told  by  these  Haida  people  with  regard 
to  a  man's  head  being  upside  down  on  the  post.  The  first  I  shall 
give  is  the  one  told  by  the  builder  of  the  house  :  The  bear  was 
the  crest  of  the  man  Chaouk,  by  whom  the  house  was  built.  His 
intention  being  not  to  follow  the  old  usage  of  his  people  by 
having  the  doorway  in  the  post,  he  had  the  man's  head  put  on  in 
order  to  have  no  blank  space,  as  well  as  to  exemplify  an  old 
story,  which  runs  thus  :  Long  ago,  a  little  boy  wandered  away 
and  got  lost  in  the  bush.  A  hungry  bear  found  him  and  ate  him 
up.  The  second  story  is  founded  on  a  usage  common  among 
these  people  :  If  a  man  owed  just  debts  to  another,  he  was 
politely  asked  three  times  to  pay  it,  and  if  then  he  refused,  no 
more  was  said  of  the  debt  by  the  party  to  whom  the  money  was 
owing,  but  he  quietly  waited  until  he  had  money  enough  to  build 
a  house,  when,  among  other  carvings,  he  had  the  image  of  the 
debtor  put  on  in  the  shape  of  a  man  with  his  head  down,  and  his 
crest  above  him,  in  order  that  the  people  might  know  who  it 


92  TALES  FROM  THE  HIDERY. 

was.  A  debtor  seldom  waited  until  the  third  time,  well  knowing 
the  consequences. 

The  next  figure  is  the  lown  or  spout  fish.  It  was  put  on  to 
show  the  crest  of  Choouto's  first  wife,  who  was  a  daughter  of 
Crosaw,  chief  of  Hieller,  on  these  islands.  The  chemouse  on 
each  side  was  put  on  for  ornament  more  than  anything  else,  al- 
though no  doubt  there  was  a  connection  between  it  and  the  wife. 
The  two  bears'  heads  above  show  a  double  relationship  between 
this  chief  and  the  bears,  which  came  about  as  follows :  He  in- 
herited his  uncle's  crest,  which  was  a  bear,  as  well  as  the  bear 
crest  of  the  village  Cathlans-coon  (Point  of  the  Waves),  in  which 
he  was  born.  Together  with  these  heads  is  a  woman's  head  and 
a  dogfish.  This  represents  an  old  legend  among  these  people, 
the  legend  of  Hathlingzo  (Bright  Sunshine).  She  was  a  woman 
who,  long  ago,  went  to  the  open  country  in  order  to  dig  roots 
for  food.  After  she  had  plenty,  she  went  to  the  seaside  to  wash 
them.  While  there  a  dogfish  came  along  and  turned  her  into  a 
sort  of  mermaid — half  woman  and  half  dogfish.  This  is  said  to 
symbolize  the  storm  clouds,  which,  in  that  land  of  mountains, 
often  quickly  turn  the  bright  sunshine  to  a  storm.  This  story 
may  also  symbolize  the  Cathlans-coon-hadry  or  people,  when 
they  left  their  own  country  and  settled  at  Skidegat.  The  dog- 
fish being  the  crest  of  the  town  of  Illth-cah-getla,  or,  as  it  is 
generally  called  nowadays,  Skidegat's  Town,  from  the  chief,  who 
also  takes  the  name  of  Skidegat,  so  by  becoming  that  town's 
people,  they  became  entitled  to  the  dogfish  crest.  The  two 
wooden  men  with  the  tail  of  the  fish  between  them,  with  taden 
skeel  on  top,  may  signify  this  man  and  his  uncle  Clads-ah-Coon, 
and  it  may  not.  Probably  they  meant  that  he  was  a  chief  at  two 
times  or  places.  The  three  circles,  black  and  white,  are  three 
degrees  of  aristocracy.  They  also  show  that  he  was  allowed  to 
have  three  dances,  and  to  wear  circles  around  his  neck  while 
dancing.  This  carved  column  is  forty-two  feet  in  length  and  is, 
like  all  the  others,  made  of  red  cedar. 

The  third  post  is  an  Alaskan  one  from  Tongass,  on  the 
southern  boundary  of  that  country.  This  one  is  also  about  forty- 
two  feet  in  height.  The  carvings  on  it  are:  i.  The  lowest,  a 
bear  holding  a  raven,  although  it  looks  more  like  a  fur  seal, 


APPENDIX.  93 

which  I  should  certainly  say  it  was  if  the  post  was  a  Haida  one. 
2.  Next  above  is  a  bear,  a  frog  with  a  bear's  tongue  in  its  mouth, 
and  a  hat  with  eight  rings.  As  for  the  signification  of  the  carv- 
ings on  this  post,  I  may  say  that  the  bear  at  the  bottom  was  the 
crest  of  the  people  whose  house  this  was.  The  bear  holding  the 
crow  or  raven,  as  is  shown  here,  would  show  that  the  bear  and 
the  raven  were  foes  and  that  the  bear  had  the  best  of  him,  though 
according  to  the  Haida  tribes  it  would  show  an  old  legend  about 
the  bear  and  the  fur  seals.  3.  Next  above  was  the  phratry  of 
the  man  who  owned  this  house.  He  also  was  one  of  the  Cauhada 
gens.  4.  Next  above  is  the  frog  with  the  bear's  tongue  in  its 
mouth,  which  showed  the  bear  and  the  frog  to  have  been  friends. 
This  frog  I  believe  is  the  bear's  wife's  crest.  The  highest  figure 
— the  head  and  hat  with  eight  degrees — must  have  been  the  hus- 
band, because  the  hat  is  on  a  bear's  head.  This  post  is  badly 
finished.  A  Haida  carver  would  never  put  such  a  post  out  of 
his  hands,  and  if  he  did  he  would  be  laughed  at  by  the  rest  of 
the  people. 

The  next  column,  fourth  in  order,  is  a  Haida  post.  It  is  of 
far  better  finish,  and  is  worthy  of  a  Haida.  This  post  has  for  its 
figures,  first  and  lowest,  a  scamsum  or  sparrow-hawk,  the  door- 
way to  the  house  being  in  the  belly  of  the  bird.  The  next  is  a 
frog;  the  next  a  being  with  a  bear's  head  and  a  human  body, 
holding  on  to  the  dragon  fly;  the  next  a  crane;  on  the  top  is  the 
taden  skeel  of  three  men,  showing  the  chiefs  successors.  This 
one,  as  well  as  No.  3,  is  exhibited  by  Mr.  E.  D.  Ayer,  of  Chi- 
cago, 111.,  to  whom,  I  believe,  it  belongs.  The  description  given 
of  this  post  is  rather  imperfect,  and  a  stranger  could  glean  but 
little  information  from  it.  The  large  bird  on  the  bottom  can 
hardly  be  called  the  sparrow-hawk.  It  should  be  called  the  mos- 
quito-hawk. The  Haida  legend  of  its  origin  is  as  follows :  I/>ng 
ago  the  land  was  mostly  covered  with  water,  and  when  the  water 
left  it  was  very  swampy.  Then  the  sun  was  very  hot,  far  hotter 
than  it  is  nowadays.  This  swampy  ground  bred  mosquitoes  of 
an  enormous  size;  they  were  as  large  as  bats.  These  bats  are 
well  known  to  most  people  from  their  habit  of  flying  about  by 
night.  These  insects  were  so  large,  and  their  bite  so  deadly  that 
many  people  died  from  them.  The  country  was  slowly  being 


94  TALES  FROM  THE  HIDERY. 

depopulated  from  this  cause.  The  people  complained  until  the 
god  Ne-kilst-lass  heard  their  cry,  and  sent  the  butterfly  to  in- 
vestigate. On  its  return,  it  gave  a  woful  account  of  the  people's 
condition.  Hearing  this,  Ne-kilst-lass  sent  the  mosquito-hawk 
to  live  on  them  and  drive  them  away,  which  it  did.  Now  that 
the  sun  is  less  hot,  and  scamsums  plentiful,  the  people  can  live. 
One  legend  is  that  the  scamsum  was  an  enormous  bird,  which 
still  lives  in  the  mountains,  from  which  it  flies  over  the  sea,  in 
order  to  destroy  the  killer- whales,  or,  as  the  Haida  call  them,  the 
scannah.  Its  body  is  the  thunderbird,  the  clapping  of  its  wings 
the  noise,  the  lightning  a  fiery  dart  sent  out  of  its  mouth  in 
order  to  kill  these  whales.  The  next  figure  is  evidently  a  frog, 
showing  that  the  party  who  had  this  house  was  allied  to  that 
crest  or  gens,  or,  what  is  not  unlikely,  they  might  have  been 
connected  with  Skidegat's  family.  The  next  is  rather  difficult 
to  decipher,  owing  to  the  head,  which  is  evidently  a  bear's,  being 
upside  down.  It  has  the  tan  gue  (bear's  ears)  on  it  plain  enough, 
showing  it  was  highly  connected  with  the  bears.  From  its  mouth 
to  the  mouth  of  the  figure  above  is  a  band,  which  is  held  by  the 
under  figure.  This  shows  a  connection  between  the  two.  In  the 
third  post  it  shows  friendship  existed  between  the  two  figures — 
that  is,  the  bear  and  the  frog.  In  this  case  the  animals  shown 
are  different.  The  lower  figure  I  consider  to  be  a  bear,  and  the 
upper  I  believe  to  be  either  a  butterfly  or  a  mosquito,  and  doubt- 
less symbolizes  the  old  story  of  the  butterfly  sent  out  by  the  an- 
cient god  Ne-kilst-lass.  The  figure  above  seems  to  be  intended 
for  the  dragon  fly,  which  also  is  an  enemy  to  these  pests;  although 
I  consider  this  portion  ot  the  carvings  to  be  neither  more  nor  less 
than  a  rendering  of  the  above  legend.  A  number  of  years  ago  I 
saw  in  the  old  village  Yukh,  Queen  Charlotte  Islands,  a  ren- 
dering on  a  very  old  totem  post  of  the  same  myth.  The  figure 
with  the  long  beak  is  a  crane,  or  heron,  and  doubtless  was  the 
crest  of  the  wife  of  the  man  who  built  this  house.  The  three 
figures  on  top  belong  to  the  family  of  Skidegat.  The  first  chief 
of  that  name  adopted  it  in  order  to  have  it  on  top  of  his  column.  It 
is  a  mythological  tale  of  the  west  coast,  and  is  as  follows  :  Long 
ago  the  god  Ne-kilst-lass,  for  a  frolic,  turned  himself  into  a 
beautiful  woman,  and  three  men  fell  in  love  with  her  and,  some 


APPENDIX.  95 

say,  married  her,  although  this  totem  post  shows  it  belonged  to 
one  of  Skidegat's  family.  This  ends  the  totem  posts  from  north- 
ern British  Columbia. 

The  next  is  a  house  of  a  different  sort  and  belonged  to  the 
Quackuhls  of  Vancouver  Island.  Instead  of  a  totem  post  these 
people  generally  paint  their  crests  on  the  front  of  their  houses. 
The  paintings  on  this  one  represent  the  sun  on  each  side  of  the 
doorway,  with  the  thunder-bird  above  the  door.  This  is  the  style 
of  this  bird,  as  is  shown  by  these  people.  This  house,  the  notice 
on  side  of  the  wall  says,  belonged  to  the  Nu-enshu  clan  of  the 
Quackuhls,  on  Vancouver  Island,  British  Columbia.  The  next 
carving  is  a  doorway  from  a  house  at  Bill  a  Coola,  in  the  interior 
of  British  Columbia.  It  is  a  bear,  and  was  the  crest  of  the  peo- 
ple who  lived  in  the  house.  The  next  carving  also  was  the  door- 
way of  a  house,  at  Billa  Billa.  The  paintings  are  as  follows  : 
Upper  part,  the  raven;  next,  the  spirit  of  the  sea.  This  forms  the 
doorway.  The  last  two  figures  were  part  of  a  house  of  the  Nan- 
nimoach  tribe  on  Vancouver  Island.  They  stood  inside  of  the 
house  and  supported  the  roof  beam.  One  of  these  post  figures  is 
represented  as  holding  a  goose  in  its  hand.  One  or  both  of  them 
represent  the  Or,  a  spirit  of  the  sea,  called  by  these  people  swie-o- 
quie. 


96  TALES  FROM  THE   HIDERY. 


OKKICERS. 

OF   THE 

International  Folk-Lore  Association 

FOR  1898-9. 


President:     Dr.  Nathaniel  I.  Rubinkam. 

Vice  Presidents:  Professor  Frederick  Starr;  lyouis  J.  Block; 
E.  W.  Blatchford;  Countess  Evelyn  Martinengo  Cesaresco,  Italy; 
Hon.  John  Abercromby,  England;  David  Mac  Ritchie,  Scotland; 
Rev.  H.  F.  Feilberg,  Denmark;  Henry  Wissendorff,  de  Wissa- 
kuok,  Russia  ;  J.  B.  Vervliet,  Belgium  ;  Arthur  Gorovei,  Rou- 
mania ;  Professor  Kaarle  Krohn,  Finland ;  Cav.  Vid  Vuletic 
Vucasovic,  Dalmatia;  Michel  de  Zmigrodzki,  Poland;  Homer 
B.  Hulbert,  Corea ;  Ernest  W.  Clement,  Japan ;  Dr.  N.  B. 
Emerson,  Hawaii ;  Rev.  Wyatt  Gill,  New  South  Wales ;  Dr. 
Teofilo  Rodrigues,  Venezuela ;  Paul  Groussac,  Argentine  Re- 
public ;  Dr.  E.  Hoffman-Krayer,  Switzerland ;  Dr.  Cenek  Zibrt, 
Bohemia  ;  Henry  Gaidoz,  France. 

Secretary:     Helen  Wheeler  Bassett. 

Treasurer:     Frederick  T.  West. 

Directors:  Mrs.  H.  W.  Bassett,  Dr.  Oscar  L.  Triggs,  Miss 
A.  E.  Isham. 

Curator:     Dr.  Selim  H.  Peabody. 


H 


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